CIHM 
Microfiche 


(l\/lonograplis) 


ICIVIH 

Collection  de 
microfiches 
(monographies) 


Canadian  Instituta  for  Historical  Microraproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  hittoriquas 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notai  /  Notts  tachniquas  et  bibliographiquat 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
may  be  bibiiographically  unique,  which  may  alter  any 
of  the  images  in  the  reproduction,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming,  arc 
checked  below. 


L'Institut  a  microfilmi  le  meilleur  eKemplaire  qu'il 
lui  a  M  pouibic  da  se  procurer.  Las  details  da  cet 
exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-4trc  uniques  du  point  de  vue 
bibiiographique,  qui  pauvant  modifier  una  image 
reproduite.  ou  qui  peuvent  axigar  una  modification 
dans  la  mithode  normale  da  f  ilmage  sont  indiqufa 
ci-dessous. 


0  Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

0  Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagte 

□  Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pelliculie 


UT. 


Cover  title  missing/ 

titre  de  couverture  manque 


D 

D 

n 

n 


D 


Coloured  maps/ 

Caites  giographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relie  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  interieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have 
been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  textc, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  etait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  ete  filmees. 


□  Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

0  Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagtes 

0  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restauries  et/ou  pclliculies 


0 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed,' 
Pages  dteolories,  tachaties  ou  piquac 


□  Pages  deuched/ 
Pages  ditachies 

0Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


D 


Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Qualite  inigale  de  I'impression 


□  Continuous  pagination/ 
Pagination  continue 


D 


Includes  index(es)/ 
Comprend  un  (des)  index 

Title  on  header  taken  from:  / 
Le  titre  de  Ten-ttte  provient: 


□  Title  page  of  issue/ 
Page  de  titre  de  la  tiv 

□  Caption  of  issue/ 
Titre  de  depart  de  la 

D 


livraiton 


Masthead/ 

Generique  (periodiques)  de  la  livraison 


,/ 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplementaires: 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata  slips,  tissues, 
etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  ensure  the  best  possible  image. 


This  Item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  f  ilme  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 


10X 

ux 

18X 

22X 

26  X 

MX 

! 

1 

1             1 

u 

1 

1 

1 

1 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24  X 


28X 


32  X 


Th«  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

University  of  Toronto  Library 


L'exemplaire  fiimi  fut  reproduit  grice  A  la 
gAnArosit*  de: 

Univariity  of  Toronto  Library 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  AtA  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  netteti  de  l'exemplaire  filmi,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  film6s  en  commen9ant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
or'ginaux  sont  filmis  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »-  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END  "), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symholes  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniftre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  la 
cas:  le  symbols  -^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
fiimis  d  des  taux  de  rMuction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA,  il  est  film6  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauohe  i  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n6cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


1^  |2.8 

lUi 

1^ 
||l.8 

1.4 

1.6 

MICROC  1PY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

NATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  STANDARDS 

STANDARD  REFERENCE  MATERIAL  1010a 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


-.■  \ 


~-J  ■ 

(T>- 

cd'. 

CO- 
o 

CD; 

en 
ai- 


0     I   \C:-i 


CENTi     '^ 


r.-^y. 


fa'-* 


MCGAW 


"-  ARTHUR  E.McFARLANE 


,-^*  ■*■'■}. l  ■  r. 


.^i^-.^>S^^/;i^^mCM^^^S^ 


:-;:.;:■;&: 


-qe-*^' 


^■■r"- 


"  It  was  Red  alone  that  finished  the  job  " 
Frontispiece.     See  page  1 20 


k   c 


\K  \'\' 


X 


1":    ! 


i! 
♦i 


.**^ 


vx. 


REDN£Y  McGAW 

A  Story  of  the  Big  Show  and 
the  Cheerful  Spirit 


ARTHUR   E.  McFARL.    JE 

ILLl.     ;.ATED    PY 

ARTHUR   WILUAM    BROWN 


A 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND   COMPANY 

1909 


1^ 


Copyright,  igog. 
By  Perry  Mason  Company. 

Copyright,  igog. 
By  Little,  Brown,  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved 


Published  October,  1909 


S.  J.  Pabkhill  &  Co.,  Boston,  U.  8.  A. 


r.^,,.A.  ■)i■kJ^  L .'  ^  L*  . .-  agg^^ 


!F  from  this  small  book  there  breaches  a  spirit  of  optimism, 
it  is  for  the  writer  to  own  at  once  and  honorably  that 
It  optimism  can  hardly  be  called  his  own,  since  it  has 
been  lent  to  him  by  certain  other  people.  Were  a  last 
analysis  made  c  ■^n  of  philosophers,  it  might  be  found  that 
their  happy  or  unhappy  speaking  of  mortal  things  came  less 
from  within  than  from  without  ;  that  the  little,  clutching 
circle  of  persons  and  things  that  made  their  world  was  kind 
or  unkind,  and  they  delivered  themselves  upon  all  things  and 
all  persons  accordingly. 

At  any  rate  such  is  the  truth  in  the  very  unphilosophic 
present  case.  And  the  merit  of  those  whom  I  may  call  the 
"optimizers**  in  the  present  case  should  shine  the  more 
brightly,  inasmuch  as  they  have  given  increasingly  of  their 
help  and  trust,  even  as,  by  reason  of  intimacy,  they  must  have 
felt  increasingly  that  the  writer  was  giving  them  the  less 
cause  therefor.  Since  this  is  the  little,  almost  trifling  book 
it  is,  my  "  optimizers"  may  still  live  happy  and  unidentified, 
save  to  themselves  by  their  own  good  consciences.  But  if  I 
shall  ever  be  empowered  to  produce  a  volume  in  any  wise 
worthy,  then,  —  in  the  menacing  phrase  of  the  speaker  of 
the  British  House  of  Commons,— I  shall  not  hesitate  "to 

name  them." 

A.  E.  McF. 


Birch  Cliff,  Canada, 
June,  1909. 


CONTENTS 

Chaptes  Page 

1.   SoviE  Explanations  and  a  Beginning  1 

II.   Diplomacy 9 

III.  The  Performers'  Tent 24 

IV.  The  Animal  Men 41 

V.  A  Fight 53 

VI.   On  the  Jump 67 

VII.    The  Pole  Wagon 78 

VIII.   The  Big  Top 93 

IX.   Pluto 109 

X.   The  Hero 121 

XI.   The  Trestle 138 

XII.   The  Yellow  Candle 152 

XIII.  A  Red-Lined  Jacket 162 

XIV.  The  Whistles  Blow 174 

XV.   Deva  on  a  Marathon 187 

XVI.   The  Freak  Car 198 

vii 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Pack 

XVII.   An  Elepiiant  Hunt 213 

XVIII.   Some  Thrills  and  Shivers  ...  223 

XIX.   The  Last  of  Fat 235 

XX.   Two  Arrivals 248 

XXI.  Farewell 257 


vni 


V.fe:;:16a.= 


•«^a    vsmm... 


■s 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"  It  was  Ked  alone  that  finished  the  job  "     FrontUpiece 

Page 
" '  Mr.  McAdam,  allow  me  to  persent  a  distin- 
guished citizen  of  Buffalo '" 25 

"  This  cure  cook  the  form  of  making  the  nsw- 

comer  the  Human  Egg " 32 

"•Say,  are    you   Madam   Rosalinda,  the  lion 
tamer  ^"' 81 

"The  Older   gymnasts   always   gathered  in  as 

'safety  men'" 98 

"  Ke  toppled  over  backwards  " 161 

"1  hey  heard  a  story  which  seemed  to  them  a  little 

the  most  astounding  ever  told  in  Michigan"     197 

«  Again  and  again  they  flipped  him  over  "     .     .    243 

"The  most  remarkable  letter  that  came  through 

the  mails,  or  did  nH!" 269 


'.•"Sftjf       *(  -^^ 


REDNEY    McGAW 


CHAPTER  I 


SOME  EXPLANATIONr:?   AND   A  BEGINNING 

Which  introduces  Mr.  McGaw,  tells  of  the 
doubtful  joys  of  "  hohoirC  it,^^  treats  of 
a  new  way  to  get  to  Dubuque,  and  chron- 
icles a  stupendous  resolution. 

HE  stood  oulriid«  the  door  of  that 
East  Buffalo  saloon  because  Messrs. 
"  Fat "  and  "  Cut  Nose  "  had  just  gone  in. 
And  his  name  :,  as  Robert  Emmet  Igna- 
tius (otherwise  "Redney  ")  McGaw. 

By  this  time  his  old  office-boy  uniform, 
which  made  him  look  like  an  "  A.  D.  T." 
messenger,  was  exceedingly  disreputable. 
His  hair  had  lost  none  of  that  warmth  of 
coloring  which  had  given  him  hi?=!  nick- 
name. But  it  now  dripped  down  dis- 
piritedly on  all  sides,  like  a  thatched  roof 

1 


REDNEY  McGAW 


on  a  wet  day.  A  month  ago,  by  reason 
of  an  almost  unbroken  growth  of  toad 
freckles,  you  could  never  be  entirely  cer- 
tain that  the  said  face  needed  washing. 
But  no  such  saving  doubt  could  be  vouch- 
safed it  now.  And  while,  ordinarily,  Mr. 
"  Red  "  McGaw  possessed  a  smile  and  an 
inexhaustible  confidence  in  life,  which 
plainly  and  palpably  ought  co  be  worth 
from  seven  to  eight  million  dollars  to  any 
man,  at  this  present  moment  he  was  not 
smiling  at  all.  As  a  true  philosopher,  he 
would  never  have  admitted  that  he  was 
unhappy.  But  he  had  at  least  come  as 
near  to  being  so  as  ever  he  had  in  his 
life. 

Nor  was  the  cause  any  of  the  cus- 
tomary ones.  If  he  was  without  either 
parents  or  relatives,  he  had  always  con- 
gratulated himself  on  this.  For,  when 
you  come  down  to  cases,  of  what  value 
are  parents  and  relatives  anyway?  If, 
for  three  years  his  only  home  had  been 

2 


mM 


SOME  EXPLANATIONS 

the  "  Newsies' ' '  Lodging  House,  back  in 
New  York,  he  wanted  to  say  that  the 
'*  Newsies  "  was  all  right,  all  right.  Two 
weeks  ago  he  had  lost  his  job.  But  could 
anyone  affirm  that  that  was  the  first  time 
he  had  lost  a  job?  It  was  only  ten  days 
now  since  he  had  taken  his  high  resolve 
to  "  hit  it  fer  out  West,"  and  join  his  old 
office  croney,  "  Spider  "  Madigan,  in  the 
Elysium  of  that  Iowa  farm.  And  already 
he  was  well  on  his  way.    But  —  but  — 

He  shifted  a  little  fu-'her  down  the 
block,  got  out  Spider's  frayed-edged  letter, 
and  read  part  of  it  again. 

It  began : 

"Say,  Irne  a  rube  now.  Thats  right,  and 
everybodys  peechy.  say,  the  old  lady,  thats  Mrs 
Sonnenschein,  shes  so  mity  good  to  me  that  offen  I 
feel  like  been  good  meself.  say,  they  let  me  go 
fishin  every  Saturday,  thats  right,  and  they  say 
they  got  room  for  one  or  two  more  like  me.  so 
youse  want  to  come  out  the  swiftest  you  can,  say, 
youd  ought  to  see  me  runnin  the  horse  rake,  it 
has  a  mustash  like  dutch  Johns  ..." 

3 


REDNEY  McGAW 


Well,  he,  Red,  was  getting  out  there 
"  the  swiftest  he  could."  He  had  now 
got  as  far  as  Buffalo.    But  — but—    . 

A  week  ago  he  had  fallen  in  with  that 
pair  of  free  companions  back  there  in 
the  saloon,  Fat  and  Cut  Nose.     They 
were    both    tramps   of    old    experience, 
professionals  in  the  thrilling  life  of  the 
highway.     And   during   the   first    three 
days  he  had  told  himself  unnumbered 
times  that  he  was  "certainly  havin'  his 
Irish  luck."    For  they  had  made   him 
one  of  themselves  almost  immediately. 
They  had  called  him  "Bo,"  which  is  affec- 
tionate  for  "hobo."    They  had  taught 
him  how  to   jump  freights  and  dodge 
train  crews,  and  "  bed  himself  easy  "  for 
the  night,  — just  about  all  there  was  to 
know,  as  you  might  say. 

Yet,  for  the  last  few  days  he  had  not 
felt  quite  so  sure  about  those  gentlemen. 
They  were  good  to  him,  no  doubt,  in 
some  ways.    But  lately  they  had  set  him 

4 


SOME  EXPLANATIONS 


to  "pan-handling"  for  them.  Only  the 
night  before  they  had  kept  him  out  in 
the  rain  till  after  two,  telling  hard-luck 
stories.  .  .  .  And  thero  were  other 
things,  as  well.  ..."  Maybe,"  he  said, 
with  an  attempt  at  ease,  "maybe,  I'd  be  a 
wise  guy  to  do  the  rest  of  my  travellin' 
by  my  lone."  But  in  his  heart  he  was 
afraid,  —  afraid  of  what  they  might  do,  of 
'vhat  Cut  Nose,  anyway,  might  do,  if  he 
tried  to  leave  them  now. 

As  far  as  to-day  was  concerned.  Fat 
had  told  him  it  would  be  all  O.  K.  if  he 
showed  up  again  by  six.  And  they  had 
left  him  a  quarter  of  his  takings  "  to  run 
along  on."  It  was  enough  to  keep  him 
eating  for  three  or  four  hours.  But  how 
was  he  going  to  get  ,  .  iirom  them  for 
keeps  I  How  could  hu  go  about  to  get 
far  enough  ahead  to  make  sure  there 
wouldn't  be  any  danger  of  their  "  catch- 
ing up  on  him  "  again!  "^hat  was  the 
very  uncomfortable  question. 

5 


REDNEY  McGAW 


But  he  had  always  noticed  that  ques- 
tions like  that  answered  themselves  a  lot 
easier  when  he  'd  just  had  a  meal.  And 
he  decided  to  go  over  to  that  "Boston 
Lunch  "  place,  n^ross  the  road,  for  some 
beans  and  buckwheat  cakes. 

And  there  an  answer  awaited  him  to 
stop  his  breath! 

A  .  jw  stools  down  the  shiny  counter 
on  the  other  side  sat  two  young  men 
in  frogged  jackets  and  bandsmen  hats. 
Red  had  paid  no  great  attention  to  them 
in  the  beginning.  But  as  they  made  an 
end  of  their  eating  they  began  to  talk. 
Their  nrst  words  identified  those  bands- 
men hats;  he  thought  he'd  seen  them 
somewhere  before.  And  now  he  did 
pay  attention.  His  ears  were  as  open 
for  everything  those  young  men  uttered 
as  his  mouth  was  for  those  buckwheat 
cakes.  And  just  as  he  was  mopping  his 
plate  with  the  last  syrup-soaked  frag- 
ment, he  heard  something  which  kept 

6 


SOME  EXPLANATIONS 

that  last  remaining  piece  of  buckwheat 
from  ever  getting  to  his  mouth  at  all. 

"  Well,  accordin'  to  what  he  says,  once 
we've  made  the  Penn  Str'„e  loop  and 
Chicag*,  the  old  show's  goin'  to  head 
straight  on  for  Dubuque." 

The  "old  show"  was  "T  e  Big 
Show,"  —  "  The  World's  Greatest  United 
Circuses  and  Three-ring  Hippodrome," 
which,  that  morning,  had  made  its  all- 
conquering  entry  into  Buffalo.  And 
Dubuque,  or  at  any  rate,  Dubuque  Junc- 
tion, was  the  post-office  address  of 
"Spider"  Madigan!  —  Red  got  out  his 
letter  and  made  sure  of  it  again. 

"  I  guess  I  want  to  go  to  Dubuque,"  he 
said.  He  said  it  several  times.  But  the 
real  idea  that  had  been  awakened  in  him 
was  too  tremendous  for  any  expression 
whatever.  Within  five  minutes  it  had 
swelled  and  expanded  till  he  could  only 
breathe  at  the  mouth  in  swallows. 

And  then,  being  a  man  of  action,  he 

7 


r 


REDNEY  McGAW 


wasted  no  more  precious  moments  in 
mere  hypnotized  bedazzlement.  He  had 
nearly  half  the  day  yet  to  work  it.  He 
girded  himself,  —  girded  himself  with  the 
strength  of  a  determination  unshakable, 
—  and  started  for  the  circus  grounds. 


8 


f     . 


CHAPTER  n 


DIPLOMACY 


Great  advantages  of  being  an  expert  on  the 
care  of  horses,  the  laundering  of  circus 
tents,  the  watering  of  elephants,  and 
the  adjustment  of  balky  typewriters. 
Four  ways  by  which  you  may  "  get  your 
hooks  in  "  with  a  circus,  — maybe. 

THE  question  was,  what  order  of 
tactics  would  best  avail  to  open  the 
business?  —  "How  to  make  the  start  at 
gettin'  his  hooks  in  I" 

If  you  are  speaking  of  details.  Red  did 
not  know.  If  you  are  speaking  of  gen- 
eral principles,  he  possessed  some  guid- 
ing rules  of  diplomacy  as  practised  by 
Cavour  himself.  When  he  had  all  but 
reached  the  grounds,  instead  of  keeping 
straight  on  to  that  crowd-thronged,  many- 
pennoned  mountain  range  of  canvas,  he 

9 


REDNEY  McGAW 


veered  off  in  a  flanking  movement  for 
those  cindery  acres  of  railway  sidings, 
where  stood  the  hundred  vermilion- 
painted  coaches  of  the  circus  trains. 

He  followed  the  long  line  of  horse-  and 
stock-cars.  He  dodged  under  the  huge 
elephant  "vans"  and  skirted  along  the 
"flats"  to  the  sleepers.  But  there 
was  nothing  there  that  might  offer  his 
"hooks"  a  grip,  —  nothing  to  give  him 
even  a  finger-hold. 

That  was  only  a  first  try,  though. 
Another  minute  and  he  was  leaving  the 
sidings  for  the  broad,  grassy  "billy  goat 
pastures  "  which  flanked  them.  He  took 
the  road  that  had  been  cut  from  cars  to 
"lot"  by  the  circus  itself.  There  was 
ineffable  fascination,  too,  merely  in  that 
road.  There  were  ruts  that  could  have 
been  made  only  by  the  wheels  of  the 
great  forty-horse  band-wagon.  There 
were  chips  of  red  and  gold  from  some 
splintered  menagerie  chariot.      And  in 

10 


DIPLOMACY 


the  mushy  places  there  were  foot-prints 
as  big  as  nail  kegs !  Red's  face  filled  and 
his  eyes  glittered.  By  now  that  "  Big 
Show"  seemed  to  fill  the  whole  horizon. 
It  seemed  to  shut  out  all  other  things 
whatsoever. 

"But  I  got  to  keep  cool,"  he  told  him- 
self. What  he  had  to  do  could  be  done, 
if  it  could  be  done,  only  bj  '  keepin' 
cool  and  givin'  all  your  intellects  to  it." 

He  got  to  the  circus  through  its  back- 
yard, so  to  speak.  And  he  found  him- 
self first  at  the  hcrse  tent.  A  groom  was 
plaiting  red,  white,  and  blue  streamers 
into  the  mane  of  a  great  gray  Percheron. 
Another  circus  man,  evidently  in  author- 
ity, was  looking  on. 

The  flies  kept  the  big  horse  in  one 
ceaseless  twitch  of  exasperation.  Red 
watched  the  work,  now  from  one  side, 
now  from  the  other.  And  then,  "  Heh ! 
but,  anyways,"  he  observed,  as  casually 
as  if  he  had  known  those  horsemen  for 

11 


REDNEY  McGAW 


at  least  three  days, "  youse  lads  give  them 
some  chance.    Youse  don't  dock  them.  " 

Neither  circus  man  looked    round. 

"  Whenever  I  see  a  guy  with  a  docked 
horse,"  he  continued,  now  speaking  quite 
chattily,  "  I  always  want  to  see  that  horse 
get  swagger,  too,  and  start  dockin'  off 
that  guy's  ears." 

This  remark  also  went  unacknowl- 
edged. Those  two  circus  men  seemed 
to  have  been  bom  without  the  instinct 
for  polite  conversation. 

For  an  empty  minute  or  two  longer  he 
waited.  Then  he  went  on  to  the  next 
tent  ahead. 

There  a  section  of  side  wall  had  come 
down ;  a  squad  of  men  were  busy  fixing 
it.  And  there,  too,  overseeing  the  job, 
was  an  individual  plainly  of  foreman 
rank.  Red  had  heard  of  such  a  person 
as  the  boss  canvas-man. 

"Heh,"  he  now  began ;  "  looks  as  if  that 
rain  had  got  things  pretty  mucked  up." 

12 


DIPLOMACY 


The  boss  canvas-man  —  for  he  it  was 
—  replied  no  more  than  had  the  boss 
horseman. 

"There's  a  laundry  here  in  Buf'lo 
advertises  it  can  wash  circus  tents. 
Anyhow,  *  anything  from  a  pocket  hand- 
kerchief to  a  circus  tent '  is  what  it 
says  on  their  signs.  You  'd  ought  to  get 
them  in  on  the  job." 

Still  no  response.  Some  of  the  on- 
lookers giggled. 

"Eeh!  Seems  like  I  don't  just  re- 
member their  address  right  now.  But  I 
could  easy  get  it." 

The  boss  canvas-man  turned  slowly, 
sized  the  speaker  up  depressingly,  winked 
at  the  audience  and  gave  his  attention 

his  work  again. 

'Ah,  I  i^  jss,"  said  Mr.  McGaw,  "I 
guess  youse  are  some  more  of  wliat  the 
ice  man  left  at  the  butcher  store."  But 
he  did  not  say  it  with  any  real  ill  feel- 
ing.   And  then,  without  letting  himself 

13 


REDNEY  McGAW 


become  too  depressed,  he  took   up   his 
march  in  quest  of  another  opening. 

He  skirted  the  endless  succession  of 
red-topped  stakes  and  hawser-like  guy- 
ropes  of  the  main  tent,  —  the  big  top, 
as  circus  people  call  it,  —  in  which  the 
afternoon  performance  was  now  glori- 
ously proceeding.  There  came  out  the 
smell  of  peanuts  and  sawdust  and  fresh- 
turned  earth,— the  long  swinging  rhythm 
and  throb  of  the  band,  and  with  it  all 
the  myriad  little  noises  made  by  fif- 
teen thousand  people  on  the  creaking 
blue-slat  seats.  From  far  down  at  the 
other  end  sounded  the  sharp,  whip- 
cracking  voice  of  the  ring-master,  and 
then  followed  the  poundingly  regular 
beat  of  horses'  hoofs  upon  a  hollow  plat- 
form. It  was  probably  the  gi-eat,  much- 
pictured  "  Waltzing  Ponies  "  act  that  had 

begim "  Say,"  Red  thought,  "  think 

—  think  of  bein'  able  to  walk  in  free  any 
time  youse  wanted ! ' ' 

14 


■IP 


mmmm 


DIPLOMACY 


He  was  still  standing  there,  one  of  a 
crowd  of  hankering  listeners,  when,  from 
the  menagerie  entrance,  two  big  elephants 
and  a  smaller  one  came  swaying  suddenly 
forth.  A  uniformed  keeper  followed,  and 
he  steered  them  towards  a  hydrant,  half- 
surrounded  by  big  blue  water  tubs. 

Red  got  to  those  tubs  in  two  jumps. 
But,  alas!  they  had  been  filled  already. 

"  Heh,"  he  said,  "  heh,  ...  but  I  bet 
them  fellers  '11  want  a  lot  more  'n  three." 

"Maybe  they'll  want  it,"  said  the 
keeper,  mopping  at  his  sweltering  tem- 
ples, —  he  was  a  brown,  sinewy  little  man, 
who  also  had  a  mustache  "  like  dutch 
Johns  " ;  —  "  but  maybe  they  wont  get  it." 

"  Ah,  youse  '11  want  to  give  them  a  little 
extry,  only  to  squirt  on  their  backs.  An' 
I  tell  youse,  now,  they  need  it,  in  weather 
like  this!" 

The  keeper  had  to  turn  to  make  the 
two  bigger  beasts  shove  over  for  the 
little  brother,  and  he  offered  no  reply. 

15 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"Out  at  Bronx  Park,"  went  on  Red, 
reminiscently,  "  the  elephant  I  generally 
always  used  to  water  was  fierce  after 
ginger  ale.  And,  heh,  it  seemed  like  it 
did  him  good." 

The  animal  man  looked  at  him  again. 
He  was  thoroughly  fagged.  Throughout 
the  length  of  the  "  Unparalleled  Exhibi- 
tion of  Performing  Pachyderms,"  just 
concluded,  he  had  been  tossed  back  and 
forth  and  rolled  about  in  the  prickly, 
sweaty  folds  of  those  now  eagerly  suck- 
ing trunks  till  he  had  wanted  to  die.  But 
he  had  the  kind  of  disposition  which  it 
takes  much  more  than  work  and  heat  to 
spoil.  "Well,"  he  said,  sighing,  "I  be- 
lieve I  could  drink  a  few  of  ginger  ale 
myself,  just  now." 

"  Me,  too,"  responded  Red  at  once. 
"And  say,  I  was  just  thinkin'  of  goin' 
after  some.  You  wait  here  till  I  slide 
out  to  the  stands  and  I'll  get  it  now." 

The  keeper  looked  after  him,  digest- 

16 


li^ 


IMMI 


DIPLOMACY 


ing  his  astonishment.  But  he  had  his 
own  idea  of  what  that  generosity  meant. 
"  He  '11  be  wantin'  me  to  see  him  in,"  he 
thought.  And  he  likewise  came  near  to 
making  up  his  mind  that  he  would. 

Red  returned  with  a  veritable  armful. 
He  had  one  two-for-five  bottle  of  sarsa- 
parilla,  two  of  ginger  ale,  and  one  of 
cream  soda. 

"  Well!  "  exclaimed  the  "  elephant 
man."  "  Who  are  you,  anyway,  —  J. 
Pierp  Morgan,  or  old  John  D.  himself!  " 

"Ah,  this  ain't  nothin'."  And  Red 
waited  till  a  second  bottle  had  gurg- 
lingly  followed  the  first.  Then,  too,  he 
unlimbered  the  battery  of  his  smile. 
"Say,  I'm  thinkin'  of  travellin'  with 
youse  people." 

"  Nof  —  Are  you  now?  —  And  when 
did  you  join  out? " 

"Well,  I  ain't  just  seen  the  big  boss 
yet.  But  you''d  give  me  a  boost  with 
him,  wouldn't  you? 

17 


>» 


REDNEY  McGAW 


*'  Why,  sure !  I  'd  offer  you  my  job." 

With  the  same  admirable  loftiness  of 
spirit  Red  put  the  offer  away  from  him. 
"Ah,  thanks,  but  1  couldn't  think  of 
takin'  it.  And  I  don't  know  as  they'd 
want  to  lose  youse." 

The  elephant  man  grinned.  "  Well, 
there  is  that  side  of  it.  But  you  don't 
mean  the  *  big  boss,'  you  mean  the 
*  G.  M.' " 

"' G.  M.' —what 's  that  fori" 

"Why,  off  the  lot  —  (he  meant  out- 
side the  circus  grounds) — it  stands  for 
General  Manager.  But  with  us  it  stands 
for  Great  Man.  And  he 's  the  man  you  '11 
have  to  talk  to.  Only  I  'm  afraid  he  's 
turned  down  about  seventeen  of  your  size 
and  age  to-day  already." 

"  Has  he?  Aw,  well,  maybe  then  he  '11 
be  tired  of  doin'  it  by  now.  Maybe  he  '11 
feel  like  try  in'  a  change." 

"  All  right,  bub,  all  right.  He 's  gen- 
erally in  the  head  office  about  six,  —  and 

18 


\i 


DIPLOMACY 


I  'm  sure  I  give  you  my  blessing.    And 
now  I've  got  to  run  along." 

To  the  left  of  the  main  entrance  stood 
two  "  family-sized  "  tents.  And  from  his 
observation  of  former  circuses,  Red  had  a 
pretty  good  idea  that  he  would  find  the 
manager's  office  in  one  or  the  other  of 
them. 

He  tried  the  first. 

But  the  only  person  at  heme  there  was 
a  young  man  with  eye  glasses,  who  was 
plainly  having  trouble  with  his  type- 
writer. He  twitched  his  chin  in  Red's 
direction  with  a  jabbing  brevity.  "  Right 
out  now!  "  he  said;  "Right  out!  Back 
to  the  asphalt  again !  " 

"  Sure ! "  said  Red.  "  Is  there  a  fellah 
around  here  named  Daugherty? " 

There'll  be  a  fellah  around  here 
named  Dinnis  in  about  one  minute !  — 
Did  you  hear  me  say  something? " 

"Well,  I  was  just  goin'."  And  to 
prove  l\is  good  faith  he  started.    Having 

19 


REDNEY  McGAW 


» 


started,  ho  rounded  jrradually  to  a  halt 
again.  "  But,  say,  —  say,  I  think  I  could 
likely  help  youse  with  that  machine." 

The  young  inan  lifted  his  thin  lips 
dangerously,  and  let  the  carriage  go  back 
with  a  clash. 

"  Heh,  we  had  one  o'  them  in  the  last 
office  I  was  in,"  continued  Red,  easily. 
"  And  they  ain't  so  bad,  o'  course,  for  a 
knockahvit  typewrite.  .  .  .  But,  skids, 
they  're  sure  the  limit,  ain't  they,  when 
they  get  to  balkin'l"  ...  He  had,  by 
strategic  degrees,  worked  his  way  back 
and  up  to  the  operator's  arm.  But,  now, 
the  intensifying  silence  making  him  ner- 
vous again,  he  retreated  once  more  to 
the  rear  of  the  machine.  ..."  Heh,  it 
looks  like  you'd  got  your  tension  too 

stiff." 

"No,  I  haven't  got  my  tension  too 
stiff,  neither!  And  say  —  "  The  oper- 
ator put  out  an  arm  at  him. 

"  Is  your  rod  down  all  right?  " 

20 


DIPLOMACY 


The  rod  was  not  down.  And  that  was 
precisely  where  the  trouble  was ! 

"  I  would  n't  'a'  knowed,"  confessed 
Mr.  McGaw  with  modesty,  "if  I  hadn't 
had  so  much  experience  with  our  own. 
.  .  .  Maybe  I  did  n't  tell  you,"  he  added, 
"  that  I  can  typewrite,  too.  That 's  right. 
Only  two-finger,  though,  o'  course." 

"  I  guess  you  're  sure  a  smart  lad,"  said 
the  young  man,  undisguisedly  mollified. 

"  Oh,  I  ain't  such  a  much.  But  I  was 
just  thinkin'  that  when  you  're  busy  I'd 
be  able  to  spell  youse,  now  an'  again." 

"  What?  You  going  to  go  along  with 
usi" 

"Well,  I  was  kind  o'  thinkin'  of  it." 
Again  his  smile  began  engagingly  to  show 
the  place  where  his  tooth  was  out.  "  Say, 
I  guess,  now,  you  'cl  be  good  for  your  in- 
fluence with  them,  wouldn't  youl  " 

"  My  influence ! ' '  The  young  man 
waved  him  foi"ty  miles  away.  "With 
this  hay-tedder  machine  it  keeps  me  sit- 

21 


1 


11 


l^i 


REDNEY  McGAW 


ting  up  till  the  milkman  comes  around 
to  hold  my  own  job !  " 

And,  to  the  short-sighted,  this  might 
appear  to  promise  no  more  advancement 
than  anything  that  had  preceded  it.  But, 
wherever  it  came  from,  Red  had  a  feeling, 
—  and  a  very  well  justified  feeling,  —  that 
when  you  've  managed  to  do  anybody  else 
a  service,  by  just  so  much,  in  some  mys- 
terious way,  have  you  managed  to  help 
yourself.  In  any  case  he  now  uncon- 
sciously let  it  go  at  that. 

Nor,  in  the  hour  that  followed,  did 
any  other  openings  present  themselves. 
The  afternoon  show  was  over.  The  sun 
dropped  lower.    It  was  going  on  to  six. 

He  went  out  to  the  street  again,  and 
using  his  last  nickel  for  it,  he  fortified 
his  spirit  with  three  doughnuts  and  a 
frankfurter.  Then  at  the  hydrant  where 
the  elephants  had  been  watered,  he 
washed  himself.  He  made  a  good  job 
of  it,  too,  getting  far  beyond  the  regular 

22 


Hi«i 


■I 


DIPLOMACY 


water-line;  and  he  finished  up  by  wet- 
ting and  parting  his  hair  with  his  fingers. 
Then  he  filled  his  chest  with  the  biggest 
breath  he  could,  and  while  he  had  the 
courage  in  him,  he  made  for  the  canvas 
business  office  of  the  G.  M. 


23 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PERFOBMERS'    TENT 

In  which  Red,  having  joined  out  as  "  The 
Human  Egg^''  and  made  an  undoubted 
hit, — to  the  amazement  of  Splinters,  king 
of  clowns,  resigns  after  his  second  act; 
and  when  about  to  say  good-bye  to  circus 
life  forever,  he  has  a  second  and  an  un- 
expected interview  with  the  G.  M. 

THE  business  office  w^as  almost  filled 
with  circus  people.  The  boss  horse- 
man was  there,  and  the  boss  canvas-man, 
and  the  head  of  the  menagerie,  and  a 
dozen  more  besides.  And  at  a  little  table 
sat  the  G-.  M.  himself.  Red  knew  him 
at  once,  not  only  because  he  wore  no 
uniform,  but  because  he  was  quiet  of 
eye,  smiled  more  than  he  laughed,  and 
listened  while  the  others  talked. 

24 


(M 


a 


13 

"3 
sc 

a 


"3 

a 

e 

2 

a 

o 


,'.<J-aI' 


THE  PERFORMERS'  TENT 


i 
t 


To  Red's  surprise,  too,  he  did  not  have 
to  wait  for  an  introduction.  He  found 
himself  receiving  one  immediately. 

"Hello,"  said  the  boss  canvas-man 
the  moment  he  caught  sight  of  him; 
"here's  the  identical  gentleman,  right 
n  w !  —  Mr.  McAdan:  allow  me  to  per- 
sent  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Buffalo, 
who 's  the  leadin'  authority  on  launderin' 
circus  tents." 

Red's  face  opened  up,  but  not  quite 
happily.  "Ah,  say,"  he  said,  with 
bashfulness. 

"Leadin'  authority  on  launderin' 
tents?"  questioned  the  boss  horseman. 
"  Oh,  no.  Oh,  no.  That 's  only  a  little 
side  line  wHh  him.  Horses  are  his 
strong  grip." 

"Ah,  — say,  — " 

"Why,"  said  the  menagerie  boss,  "if 
this  is  the  same  gentleman,  which  I 
reckon  it  is,  all  right,  — I  have  it  from 
McNally  that  it 's  elephants  he  specializes 

25 


REDNEY  McGAW 


■i 


on.  I  understand  he 's  a  world-beater  on 
handlin'  elephants.  If  you  could  only 
get  him  to  join  out  with  us,  —  and  you 
never  can  tell,  he  might  entertain  the 
idea,  —  I  understand  he'd  expect  to  take 
hold  and  look  after  the  whole  herd." 

"Heh,"  said  Mr.  McGaw,  shifting 
about  as  if  that  tent  floor  was  gradually 
becoming  griddle  hot;  "I'd  like  to  join 
out  with  youse,  all  right,  all  right.  But 
it  looks  like  I  'm  gettin'  interduced  a 
little  too  much.^^ 

"I'm  afraid  that's  what,"  said  the 
G.  M.  "  It  looks  to  me  as  if  you  'd  laid 
almost  too  many  pipes." 

And,  just  at  that  moment,  having 
heard  Red's  voice  indistinctly  through 
the  two  walls  of  canvas,  the  stenographer 
left  his  tent  and  put  his  head  in.  "  Say," 
he  said,  with  entire  seriousness,  "  if  that 
lad  in  there  needs  a  recommendation,  it's 
up  to  me  to  say  that  he 's  Johnny-on-the- 
spot  when  it  comes  to  mending  a  type- 

26 


THE  PERFORMERS'  TENT 


writer.  He  was  suggesting  that  he  could 
help  me  out  now  and  again  if  he  was 
with  the  Show." 

And  then  he  wondered  why  everybody 
shouted. 

"  There 's  nothing  else  for  it,"  said  the 
menagerie  boss.  "We'll  have  to  offer 
him  that  job  of  '  Human  Egg.'  " 

"What  — what's  that!"  asked  Red. 
It  had  come  at  a  moment  when  he  had 
utterly  abandoned  hope! 

"Why,  it's  a  sort  of  clowning  act," 
the  costume  man  expldned.  "  It 's  what 
we  start  beginners  on.  And,  then,  if 
they  make  good  at  that,  we  pass  them 
on  to  something  else." 

"Well,  say!  —it  it's  a  clownin'  act!" 
—  He  could  hardly  speak,  — "Will  I 
make  good!  And  you'll  never  get  me 
changin'  off  to  nothin'  else  at  all  !  " 

"  I  believe,"  said  the  G.  M.,  hesitating, 
"I  believe  there's  an  opening  in  the 
cook  tent  squad,  —  dishwashing." 

27 


REDNEY  McGAW 


i  i 


At  that  Red's  face  became  heavily 
shadowed  again.  "  Ah,  I  don't  just 
know  as  I  've  had  such  a  lot  of  experi- 
ence dish-washin'." 

"Very  well!  Very  well!''  —  And  the 
manager  dropped  his  hands.  "You've 
worked  hard,  and  I  daresay  you  won't 
be  happy  till  you  get  it." 

One  would  have  said  that  without  any 
apparent  reason  the  G.  M.  had  turned 
completely  round.  And  yet,  too,  as 
he  gave  Red  that  chance  of  chances, 
there  was  something  in  the  G.  M.'s 
expression  that  looked  extremely  like 
commiseration! 

But,  a  little  after  seven,  the  costume 
man  took  Red  into  the  men  performers' 
dressing-room.  There  he  presented  him 
to  a  Pierrot  and  a  Pantaloon,  and  to 
Splinters,  "king  of  all  the  clowns  on 
earth !  "  And  when  they  learned  that  he 
was  to  be  the  Human  Egg,  they  all  rose 
up  and  whooped  him  a  welcome  together. 

28 


THE  PERFORMERS'  TENT 


In  any  other  place  such  a  reception 
would  have  gone  far  towards  making 
Red  suspicious.  As  it  was,  he  let  him- 
self down  on  an  3mpty  make-up  box,  and 
his  brain  seemed  to  be  going  around  like 
a  kaleidoscope.  Only  instead  of  ever- 
changing  designs  in  colored  glass,  all 
about  him  there  were  "artists"  getting 
into  the'"  costumes,  —  costumes  of  crim- 
son, green,  and  serpentine,  costumes  cov- 
ered with  gold  and  glittering  scales  and 
spangles.  Opposite  him,  in  silver  and 
robin's-egg  blue  sat  a  group  of  seven 
whom  he  knew  at  once  to  be  the  great 
"  Saxon  Samsons,"  though  one  was  a 
solemn-faced  lad  not  as  old  as  he  was, 
and  the  two  next  to  him  were  only  a  few 
years  older.  But  the  other  four  were 
giants,  with  rolling  muscles,  and  necks 
like  beech-trees  where  they  leave  tne 
ground,  and  thick,  yellow  beards  more 
crisply  wavy  than  the  fetlocks  of  dray 
horses.    One  of  them,  the  mightiest  of 

29 


J 


REDNEY  McGAW 


them  all,  seeing  Red  looking  at  him, 
bared  his  big,  short  white  teeth  and  sent 
a  smile  ov  -  to  him  that  was  as  sweet 
and  simple  vrf  a  little  girl's. 

"  Skids!  "  thought  Red, " I  'm  goin'  to 
get  knowin'  him  all  right!  " 

And  a  few  moments  later  "  Splin- 
ters "  and  his  lieutenants,  having  finished 
dressing  themselves,  came  over  to  him. 
"Now,  Mr.  McGaw,"  they  said,  "we're 
just  going  to  make  you  the  funniest  thing 
that  was  ever  allowed  out ! ' ' 

In  a  trice  they  had  his  boots  and  outer 
clothing  off.  In  another  trice  they  had 
him  into  something  like  a  shiny  white- 
rubber  balloon.  And  they  promptly  be- 
gan to  inflate  it  with  a  foot-power  bicycle 
pump.  The  inflating  had  the  effect  of 
tightening  the  top  of  the  ''egg"  about  his 
throat  till  he  was  all  but  strangled  ;  and 
the  foot  holes  drew  his  ankles  together 
till  he  could  barely  keep  his  balance. 
"Heh,"  h3  told  himself  after  the  first 

30 


THE  PERFORMERS'   TENT 


two  minutes,  "I   don't  know  as  I  just 
like  this  so  much." 

In  place  of  shoes  they  provided  him  with 
a  huge,  flapping  pair  of  yellow  duck  feet. 
The  costume  man  came  up,  covered  his  face 
with  a  tallowy  coat  of  zinc-white  make- 
up paint,  and  ended  by  dashing  a  great 
splurge  of  vermilion  upon  his  mouth.  — 
"  Gee,"  choked  Red  again,  "  this  is  gettin' 
kind  o'  fierce.    But  I  got  to  make  good !  " 

And  then,  as  a  whistle  blew,  Pierrot 
and  Pantaloon  each  took  him  by  an  arm, 
rushed  him  down  a  canvas  alley-way, 
through  the  performers'  entrance  and 
thence  into  the  ring.  He  had  just  time 
to  feel  that  about  a  million  people  were 
looking  at  him,  when  a  trapeze  hook  was 
snapped  through  a  ring  in  the  back  of 
his  belt.  He  seemed  to  lose  his  hold 
upon  the  grou  id ;  he  found  himself  kick- 
ing powerlessiy  in  the  air.  And  then  he 
received  a  whack  from  a  slap  stick  which 
spun  him  like  a  top. 

31 


«^.  #.|li*L-i, 


REDNEY  McGAW 


He  came  to  the  ground  with  a  jolting 
jerk,  went  rolling  down  the  track  as  if 
he  were  some  gigantic,  white-kid  foot- 
ball; and  all  the  clowns  began  to  "toe 
him"  along.  It  didn't  hurt  exactly,  but 
the  rolling  motion  was  something  awful. 
And  through  everything  he  could  hear 
the  roars  of  the  audience:  they  were 
laughing  at  it !  — 

"Say,"  he  panted,  " /So?/.' " 

Now  the  real  inwardness  of  it  all  was 
this:  Circuses  do  not  encourage  boys  of 
fourteen  who  want  to  "join  out."  And 
when  they  are  very  persistent,  they  try 
to  give  them  a  first  experience  calculated 
to  cure  them  of  all  desire  for  the  show- 
man profession  for  the  remainder  of  their 
natural  lives.  And  with  The  Big  Show 
this  cure  took  the  form  of  making  the 
new-comer  the  Human  Egg. 

In  the  next  act  Red  was  trundled  on 
like  a  water-melon.    And  they  all  took 

32 


ik 


St 

B 


D 


Jt 
X 


I   ; 


li 


i'i 


I 


THE  PERFORMERS'  TENT 

turns  "  walking ' '  him,  as  river-drivers  walk 
rolling  logs.  Again,  if  it  did  not  really  do 
him  any  damage,  it  scared  him  to  death  I 

A  second  time  the  hook  was  snapped 
into  his  belt,  and  then,  pursued  by  a 
grotesque  Man  Monkey  clown,  he  was 
run  up  and  up  and  up,  past  nets  and 
trapezes  and  gasoline  chandeliers  till  he 
was  at  the  very  ridge  line  of  the  "big 
top."  It  was  so  hot,  too,  that  although 
only  a  little  of  that  Man  Monkey's  face 
was  visible,  he  seemed,  under  his  brown 
door-mat  costume,  to  be  melting  away  in 
perspiration. 

Red's  own  head  felt  as  if  it  had  been 

thrust  into  a  steam-boiler.    It  felt 

They  had  suddenly  dropped  him  to  within 
five  feet  of  the  ground  again ! 

He  only  knew  that  he  hadn't  struck 
by  opening  his  eyes  to  the  stinging  squirt 
of  half  a  dozen  soda  siphons  ....  And 
once  more  the  audience  was  shouting 
and  hee-hawing  its  delight! 
3  33- 


if  * 


'■  i 

ii 


"  I  gxiess  that'll  be  abont  all  forme  I 

he  gapped  who-,   bo  ha.l   come  to  h,m- 

«y  at  last  on  that  box  in  the  dressmg 

"Te  turned  to  *he  English  zany  beside 
him.  "Say,  did  somebody, -somebody 
„se  to  be  the  Human  Egg  every  night 

"Sure  thing,  me  boy.     ff  J  ^^^* 
.owe  -appens  to  be   in  the    o^p;teL 

H'always  gettin'  hisself  mto  the    ors 

T^ltal   that  lad ! ' ' 
''*Gee,Ibethewas!...Well.youse 

are  winners  all  right!"  He  tried  to 
^do  his  collar,  but  his  throat  l.ad  choked 

up  achingly.  He  had  known  disappoint- 
Int  before  in  his  life,  but  never  any- 
aing  like  this. -"Heh,  7  could  n't  make 

good  at  it,  I  guess,  not  in  a  thousand 

''Tplinters  came  down  the  line  to  him 
and  smacked  him  on  the  back.    "Oceans 

of  fun,  ain't  it,  old  man?" 
..  I  guess  it  is- when  you  're  fergettm 

34 


;     I 


THE  PERFORMERS'   TENT 


-I 


about  it."      Again  he  made  a  sick  at- 
tempt to  undo  his  collar. 

"What's  that  I  — We  ain't  goin'  to 
lose  you?  — And  after  only  two  acts!  " 

Red  nodded. 

"  Well,  well,  well,  well,  well ! ' '  And  as 
Splinters  began  to  let  the  wind  out  of  the 
Egg  for  him,  all  the  while  he  continued 
to  express  his  worrici  hope  that  Red 
might  change  his  mind.  Then  he  undid 
the  neck  and  ankle  straps.  —  "  But  if  you 
really  must  go,  you  know,"  he  said, "  here 's 
what  we  take  the  paint  off  with.' '  He  gave 
him  a  pot  of  vaseline.  "And  you  can 
wash  up  down  there  on  the  other  side." 

The  whole  brigade  of  clowns  tumbled 
and  cartwheeled  out  to  the  ring  again,  and 
left  him  sitting  in  his  comer  alone. 

It  was  at  that  minute  that  the  G.  M. 
looked  quietly  in,  and  then  as  quietly 
disappeared  again. 

The  Saxon  Samsons  returned  from 
their  second  act.    Glittering  in  his  blue 

35 


f^  .«g«^,-~SfT>.^5^^:mJ! 


REDNEY  McGAW 


and  silver,  the  solemn-faced  boy  he  had 
noticed  almost  touched  him  as  he  passed. 
"I  guess  he  made  good,  all  right," 
thought  Red;  "but,  criminy,  —  I  bet 
there 's  a  terrible  lot  that  don't !  "  He 
began  to  have  a  feeling  for  those  who 
don't  that  he  'd  never  had  before. 

He  had  now  changed  back  into  his 
old  office-boy  uniform.  But  he  con- 
tinued to  stand  yearningly  beside  his  box. 
"Goin'or  stayin'l"  the  dressing-room 
watchman  called  in  to  him;  "nobody 
allowed  in  here  in  street  clothes."  It 
was  like  pushing  him  out. 

"Oh,  I'm  goin'  all  right.  But  say, 
youse  hand  it  to  the  new  guys  pretty  fierce 
and  hard,  don't  youse?  "  He  still  smiled, 
but  his  smile  was  now  half  of  it  quiver. 
The  Man  Monkey  stumbled  in  again. 
He  worked  back  his  hood.  It  was  drip- 
ping. And  his  eyes  were  staring  with 
the  heat. 
Red  came  to   a  halt;    for  he    could 

36 


THE  PERFORMERS'  TENT 

sympathize  with  that  Man  Monkey  as 
one  who  knew.  "  Heh,  talk  about  it 's 
bein'  hot!  I  guess  up  there  above  the 
lights  is  where  it  really  hits  you.  But 
youse  have  got  the  stuff  in  you  for  it.  .  .  . 
Well,  I  need  to  be  moseyin'."  He  swal- 
lowed the  lump  again,  and  got  himself 
five  steps  nearer  to  the  door. 

From  a  group  just  then  entering  there 
came  a  kind  of  sipping  sound,  —  that  of 
somebody  sucking  in  his  breath  with  his 
teeth  closed.  The  "  leaper  "  of  the  "  Fly- 
ing Florio  troupe"  had  put  his  thumb 
out  of  joint,  and  his  friends  were  pull- 
ing it  in  for  him. 

And  at  that  Red  stopped  once  more. 
"  Say,  —  youse  '11  think  I  '11  only  be  goin' 
when  youse  throw  me  out,"  —  he  felt  it 
incumbent,  now,  to  apologize  to  the  tent 
in  general, — "  but  it  just  happens  I  'm  car- 
ryin'  the  thing  the  rmll-play  experts  use 
for  sprains."  He  produced  a  small  and 
smudgy  roll  of  bicycle  tape, 

37 


I 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"  Youse  need  to  start  it  so  fashion  — 
turn  the  end  in  " — he  showed  the  suffering 
acrobat ;  "  and,  —  nah,  —  that 's  all  right, 
you  just  keep  it  all.  .  .  .  You  see,  — heh, 
—I  won't  be  needin'  it  now  meself.'' 

Then,  with  a  sudden  feeling  as  of  salt 
in  his  eyes,  he  made  blindly  for  that 
tent-flap  door. 

At  the  very  entrance  of  the  canvas 
alley-way,  he  walked  into  the  G.  M.'s 
arms.  And  the  G.  M.  must  have  heard 
almost  everything. 

♦'  Hello !  "  he  said ;  "  hello !  Not  leav- 
ing us?" 

**  Yeh,"  Red  s  -swered  thickly.  '  They 
gimme  my  try  out,  all  right;  but  I  didn't 
make  good." 

"Well,"  said  that  G.  M.,  queerly,  "to 
tell  the  truth,  I  never  could  myself.  Kind 
of  a  tough  world,  is  n't  it!  " 

"  Ah,  I  dunno.  I  guess  not,  if  youse 
know  how."     And  he  started  on  again. 

The  G.  M.  let  him  go  a  dozen  or  twenty 

38 


THE   PERFORMERS'  TENT 

feet.    Then,  "How  about  having  a  try 
at  washing  dishes?  "  he  asked. 

"Wha'l"  said  Red;  "wha'f  Is  that 
job  open  y'>tl " 

"  That  depends.  Just  come  over  here 
into  the  comer, —  so."  He  put  him  down 
on  the  door-man's  stool.  "Now— got  any 
people  here  in  Buffalo!" 

"  I  ain't  got  any  anywheres.  The  only 
people  I  know  here  is  two  guys  I  was  on 
the  road  with  and  am  wantin'  to  get  away 
from." 

The  G.  M.  took  hold  of  his  left  hand 
and  parted  his  first  and  second  fingers. 
"H'm  .  . .  Smoke  cigarettes,  I  see." 

"  Not  any  more,"  he  scarcely  breathed, 
"  if  youse  '11  let  me  join  out  yet !  " 

"Use  a  good  deal  of  bad  language, 
likely!" 

"There  ain't  any  I  can't  ferget!  " 

"  No  crap-shooting  any  more,  either  ! 
Because  none  of  those  things  go  in  The 
Big  Show." 

39 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"Just  youse  give  me  the  clianst  and 

see!" 

"  Very  well !  We  '11  se<^'  what  we  can 
do  to-morrow.  Only  remember,  it  was  n'  t 
laying  all  those  pipes  that  did  it.  In  the 
meantime  1  suppose  we  '11  have  to  find  a 
place  to  put  you  for  to-night.  Buffalo 's  a 
two-day  stop,  you  know.  H'm  .  .  .  h'm 
—  would  you  be  afraid  to  sleep  on  the 
hay  in  the  menagerie  tent,  — with  the 
animal  meni " 

Would  he  be  afraid  to  sleep  in  the 
menagerie  tent  with  the  animal  men!  — 
And  the  rest  of  it  happened  even  more 
rapidly  and  amazingly  than  that.  In 
another  five  minutes  he  was  under  the 
charge  of  "Elephants"  McNally.  And 
Elephants  McNally  was  that  genial  keeper 
for  whom  he  had  bought  the  ginger  ale ! 

What  was  tramping  it,  — what  was  the 
life  of  the  road,  — where  were  Messrs. 
Fat  and  Cut  Nose  nowl 


40 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  ANIMAL    MEN 


A  night  in  a  menagerie  tent;  strange  con- 
duct on  the  part  of  elephants,  lions, 
giraffes,  pythons,  and  laughing  jack- 
asses: some  thrilling  adventures  which, 
however,  do  not  appear  to  have  happened. 

IT  was  a  first  night  with  a  circus  that 
was  worth  any  five  years  of  common, 
ordinary  life ! 

Perhaps,  some  time  after  an  evening 
performance  you  have  tried  to  go  out  by 
the  route  by  which  you  came  in,  to  see 
the  animals  again.  And  you  have  found 
that  you  could  not.  This  is  because  ani- 
mals are  sensible  beings  and  hold  strong 
views  as  to  the  wisdom  of  going  to  bed 
early.  Their  acts  are  considerately  put  on 
in  the  first  part  of    the  program;    and 

41 


r 


REDNEY  McGAW 


I 


when  they  have  finished  they  retire  in 
both  senses  of  the  word. 

When  Red  followed  Elephants  Mc- 
Nally  into  that  great,  smelly  menagerie 
tent  a  little  aftt.  nine,  they  were  already 
beginning  to  close  it  up.  The  "gaso- 
line men  "  were  making  their  rounds  ^nd 
putting  out  all  but  a  single  jet  in  ^ch 
huge,  flaring  chandelier.  And  over  c  a  the 
right,  as  the  darkness  thickened,  the  *•  big 
cats  "  —the  lions  and  tigers, leopards  and 
panthers,  — had  begun  with  large,  whiny 
yawns  to  take  to  camp. 

Down  the  center  of  the  tent  between 
the  poles  was  a  broad,  soft  bank  of  hay. 
The  gathering  keepers  commenced  to 
spread  their  blankets  upon  it,  and  to  stuff 
more  hay  into  bags  for  pillows. 

Elephants  got  an  extra  bag  and  blan- 
ket for  Red.  "  But  you  won't  need  it 
much,"  ho  said.  "When  we're  sleepin' 
on  the  lot  like  this,  we  only  take  off  our 
coats  and  vests  and  loosen  up  a  little. 

42 


THE  ANIMAL  MEN 


And,  Jemima,  it  'd  be  hot  enough  with- 
out anything  at  all !  " 

The  gasoline  men  finished  their  work 
and  departed.  "That'll  leave  it  scytne 
cooler,"  breathed  a  keeper  by  the  next 
pole. 

The  elephants,  in  a  wide  half  circle, 
were  stirring  about  and  furling  and  un- 
furling their  ears  uneasily.  "  It  hits  them 
hard  here,  anight  like  this,"  saidMcNally, 
"don't  it,  Coakeneyl" 

"Coakeney"  was  East  London  for 
"  Cockney."  And  the  little  East  Londoner 
was  bunking  just  on  the  other  side  of 
Red.  "It  certainly  does,  me  boy,"  he 
said.  "  They  come  from  parts  that 's 
warmer.  But  in  Indiar  they  can  shove 
beneath  the  trees.  An'  often  enough  they 
spend  the  night  chin-deep  in  water." 

All  the  keepers  had  now  "  taken  to  the 
hay."  But  it  was  plain,  —  and  Red  real- 
ized it  with  new  thrills  of  rapture,  —  that, 
for  his  delectation,  they  were  not  unwill- 

43 


/-:  /r/ 


EEDinEY  McGAW 


ing  to  swap  experiences  for  awhile  before 
they  went  to  sleep. 

"An',  my  word,' '  said  the  little  English- 
man agaiL--"it's  the  Port  Elizabeth 
Ryleway  people,  —  South  Africar,  you 
know,  —  that  learned  that  h'elephants  are 
fond  of  water.  Down  there  tho  h'ele- 
phants st'ydown  around  the  bitsot  rivers 
all  d'y,  and  then  trav  1  up  them  after 
nightfall.  Consequence  was,  at  first,  that 
whenever  some  little  brook  was  let  under 
the  ryleway  line  by  a  bit  of  a  cuttin',  an' 
that  cuttin'  was  too  narrow  for  the  big 
old  bull  of  the  herd  to  push  hisself 
through,  h'up  they'd  all  cliiib  over  the 
embankment,  an'  bring  dov  i  so  much 
gravel  and  ballastin'  that,  mv  woid,  that 
ryleway  woul  '  n't  be  syfefor  w-eks  after 
wards!  In  ibe  end,  right  h'ougb  the 
h'elepbant  oinitry  the}  1^  "l  to  v  den 
every  h'areh   ;ilong  the   li'!" 

"Yes,  I've   heard    afcoui    thai,      c-  ti- 
mented   McNally;  "and  I     m  U-i 


THE  ANi:   AL  MEN 


too,  they  '"e  gom'  to  aave     run  for  tbi  ir 
inouey  whi.e  th*  /  're  finish i   '  their  Cape 
to  Cairo  load.     When  I  was  last  through 
Buiuwa  o,   I  was  after  them  lads  yon- 
der, ' —  he   crooked  his  thumb  towards 
the    tuwer-like,  open-top    '^age&    c*'    the 
girafies,  —  "and  T'U  just     Al     ou  v  aat 
theff  't«  learned  to  do.     You  k  \ow,  o. 
there  they  i    ven't  got  any  hign  '  Tib* 
and  they've  aa'l  to  content     b- oise've 
with  fit'teen-1  )ot  steel  sticks  foi  ihei.  tel- 
tgrap'')  poles.     Well,  wLr  n-.^h  of 

lem  uecKvlads  have  bei  othered  by 
iii**  \s  .res,  they  simp^  ret  ether  and 
pir  their  lu^ads  througl  ,  and  rip  away 
a  half  a  mue  or  so  of    h*       at  once!  " 

''Say!''    said  Red,  Gee,    I'd 

like  to  be  workin'  out  ' 

"Well,  you  wouiti  n't  want  to  be  car- 
ryin'  telegrams,  me  boy,"  said  Coakeney. 
"My  word,  along  the  Mombassa  ryle- 
way,  what  with  havin'  Icemen  for  break- 
fast, an'  then  navvies  foj.  dinner,  the  lions 

45 


m 


;    ! 


KEDNEY  McGAW 


i 


got  so  fat  that  they  s'y  they  actiaily 
couldn't  waddle  off  quick  enough  when 
the  engines  'd  find  them  on  the  track. 
My  word,  it  got  to  be  fair  shockin' !  " 

Even  as  if  he  had  heard  and  understood, 
one  of  the  great-maned  beasts  on  the 
other  side  of  the  tent  opened  his  mouth 
in  a  long  sleepily-hungry  stretch.  They 
could  hear  the  jaws  come  together  with  a 
soft  clicking.  Red's  spinal  column  had 
delicious  shivers. 

"  Say,"  he  asked  "  do  youse  go  out  cap- 
turin'  things  for  the  Show  I  " 

"  That 's  what!  "  said  McNally;  "  and 
mighty  hard  they  are  to  capture  some- 
times, Coakeney,  did  you  ever  hear  about 
how  I  lost  that  laughin'  jackass  down  in 
Queensland! " 

"Not  recently,"  said  Coakeney,  "not 
recently!  " 

"  Why,  it  was  like  this :  a  laughin' 
jackass,  you  know,  is  a  sort  of  a  rooster- 
sized  kingfisher,  with  a  head  like  a  blue 

46 


THE  ANIMAL  MEN 


hatchet  and  a  voice  to  beat  a  million  elec- 
tion rattles.  And  they're  gettin'  to  be 
pretty  rare.  Well,  one  day  I  was  out  in 
the  blue-gum  bush,  and  I  caught  sight  of 
a  big  one  on  the  end  of  a  dead  branch. 
Now  it 's  a  habit  of  the  laughin'  jackass  to 
take  a  terrible  fixed  look  at  you  when  he 
thinks  you're  hostile  to  him;  and  once 
he  drills  his  eye  onto  you  it  seems  like  he 
ain't  got  the  natural  power  to  take  it  off 
again.  Well,  not  thinkin',  what  did  I  do 
but  start  goin'  around  that  tree  by  way 
of  closin'  in  on  him!  Tchck!  I'd  just 
made  my  circle  when,  pop  —  down  that 
laughin'  jackass  falls,  gives  one  kick,  and 
is  as  dead  as  a  knocker.  You  see,  he  'd 
twisted  his  head  around  just  one  point 
too  much  and  broke'  his  neck." 

"Skids!"  said  Red,  "  I  bet  you  lost 
money  on  them  goods  all  right ! ' ' 

"Trust  me!  I  never  went  after  a 
laughin'  jackass  that  way  again." 

"Frightful    unintelligent!"     said 

47 


REDNEY  McGAW 


Coakeney,  "  frightful !  And  when  you  're 
dealin'  with  any  beast  you  need  to  have 
your  wits  about  you.  I  mind  well  a 
ticklish  minute  or  two  I  had  once  with 
a  big  python  in  Natal.  He'd  wrapped 
hisself  'round  me  full  length,  —  nothin' 
but  my  h'arms  free,  and  knife  and  gun 
fifty  yards  aw'y!  What  did  I  do,  my 
boy!  I  '11  tell  you  what  I  did,  and  I 
want  to  [s'y,  now,  1  only  thort  of  it  in 
time.  I  took  that  snyke's  tyle,  rammed 
it  into  his  mouth,  and  ekotvked  him  to 
death!" 

There  was  a  minute  of  deep  silence. 
Then  there  went  up  a  prodigious  and 
manifold  snort,  as  if  all  those  surroundi.-g 
animal  men  were  likewise  choking  to 
death. 

"  Ah-h! "  said  Red,  "  you  been  jollyin' 
me  !  — you  both  been  !  " 

"  I  guess  they  been  doin'  a  lot  more 
than  that,"  said  somebody  down  the  line, 
with  conviction. 

48 


THE  ANIMAL  MEN 


"  And  I  '11  bet  you  was  stringin'  me 
about  them  giraffes  an'  lions,  too." 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  McNally; 
"  you  never  can  tell." 

"  Say !  "  came  a  wearied  growl  from 
somewhere  out  of  the  dark.  "When 
are  you  guffers  goin'  to  get  to  sleep, 
anyhow  f " 

"Eight  away  we  are.  But  this  new 
elephant  expert  here  has  been  tellin'  us  a 
line  of  yams  that  would  keep  any  man 
awake.  Hang  if  we  can  believe  some  of 
them !  " 

He  gave  Red's  leg  an  understanding 
smack,  and  turned  over. 

"But,  say,"  said  Red,  "before  youse 
go,  there  's  just  one  thing  I  'm  wantin' 
to  ask." 

"  Ask  it  now,  then." 

"About  that  little  geezer  with  the 
Saxon  Samsons.  Why  is  it  he  looks  so 
terrible  solemn  I " 

"  What,    you  don't  know  about   our 
4  49 


REDNEY  McGAW 


Hans  Sohmer  yet?  Why,  'Midget  Hans' 
is  the  only  support  of  his  great-grand- 
mother in  Germany;  he's  been  keepin' 
her  since  he  was  eleven.  And  if  you 
had  a  great-grandmother  on  your  hands, 
you'd  look  solemn,  too." 

"  That  —  that  ain't  just  more  joUyin'  I 
Ah,  go  on,  now? " 

"Never  a  jolly!  " 

"Skids!  But  ain't  the  others  his  big 
brothers  ?  " 

"  Big  brothers  nothin' .  They  're  what 
we  call  a  family  in  the  circus.  But  that 
only  means  they  've  got  together  because 
they  look  alike  and  all  fit  into  the  same 
line  of  turns." 

"  And  the  biggest  one  of  all,  —  what 's 
his  name?  " 

"  Oh,  that 's  Big  Heinie  Muller.  Him 
and  Mrs.  Miiller  have  got  a  '  leedle 
Heinie,'  too,  back  with  his  aunt  Elsa  in 
New  York.  He's  only  a  year  old,  but 
he  gives  the  Show  a  lot  more  worry  even 

50 


THE  ANIMAL  MEN 


than  Hans' s  great-grandmother.  —  And 
I  guess  that  '11  be  about  all  for  to-night." 

Elephants  turned  over  again,  made 
himself  easy,  and  in  another  five  minutes 
he  was  gently  snoring. 

But  Red  could  not  sleep.  For  one 
thing  the  evening  performance  had  not 
ended  yet.  From  the  "big  top"  the 
throb  of  the  band  came  to  them  wave  on 
wave,  the  chariots  raced,  and  the  ap- 
plause of  the  crowd  sounded  like  falling 
surf. 

Once  he  caught  two  of  the  elephants 
turning  over;  they  rose  as  heavily  as 
mountains,  and  as  heavily  lay  down 
again  on  the  other  side.  "Say!"  he 
gloated,  "I  bet  Noah's  Ark  wasn't  no 
better 'n  this.  Say!  Spider  wouldn't 
like  to  be  here,  or  nothin'.  And  I  guess 
I  ain't  hoboin'  it  no  more!  " 

Once,  too,  the  Numidian  lion  began  to 
blow  in  his  sawdust,  louder  and  louder, 
even  as  if  it  had  been  the  sand  of  the 

51 


REDNEY  McGAW 


Sahara ;  and  then  he  sent  forth  his  voice 
in  a  long  shuddering  roar.  The  animal 
men  never  wakened,  though  Red's  legs 
grev^  stiff  at  it. 

But  by  plugging  up  his  ears  and  pull- 
ing the  blanket  over  his  head,  he  began 
to  make  himself  feel  sleepy  at  last. 

It  had  been  the  kind  of  day  which  at 
the  end  seems  like  weeks  and  weeks. 


52 


CHAPTER    V 


A  FIGHT 

Of  an  abandoned  cellar,  and  a  ^^  fistic  com- 
bat,'^—  or  rather  two  ^^  fistic  combatSj^ 
i:i  neither  of  which  have  the  principals 
any  desire  to  engage;  with  chance  ob- 
servations upon  the  duties  of  great 
world-powers  from  Big  Heinie  of  the 
world-famous  Saxon  Samsons. 

IT  would  have  been  better  for  Red  if 
he  had  stayed  with  McNally  and 
Coakeney  and  the  other  animal  men  in 
the  daylight.  But  he  was  to  start  dish- 
washing at  noon.  And  he  felt  that  it 
was  only  his  duty  to  get  to  know  every- 
thing there  was  to  know  about  The  Big 
Show  in  the  meantime.  The  result  was 
an  hour  of  painful  regrets  in  the  present, 
and  a  variety  of  consequences  in  the 
future. 

53 


REDNEY  McGAW 


He  had  started  across  the  commons  in 
the  hope  of  being  able  to  see  the  inside 
of  the  circus  trains,  when  in  a  hollow  he 
noticed  a  crowd  of  battered  looking  can- 
vas-men. When  he  got  nearer  he  saw 
that  they  were  sitting  and  standing  about 
on  the  edge  of  a  half -dug  and  abandoned 

cellar. 

He  worked  his  way  thi-ough  them; 
and,  in  a  minute,  he  was  trying  to 
work  his  way  back  again.  Squatting  on 
the  ground  throwing  dici,  and  inviting 
the  canvas-men  "to  get  into  the  game," 
sat  none  other  than  those  two  former 
man  comiides  of  his  in  the  trampmg 

business ! 

Both  are  described  sufficiently  ell, 
perhaps,  by  their  appellations.  They 
were  tramps;  and  though  without  any 
picturesque  tatters,  they  looked  their 
parts.  Cut  Nose  was  lean  and  blue- 
jawed  ;  and  his  scar  somehow  gave  him  an 
expression  that  was  sinister  even  when 

54 


A  FIGHT 


he  laughed.  There  was  nothr  ^j  sinis- 
ter about  Fat.  But  if  properly  worked 
up  to  it,  he  could  be  quite  as  dangerous 
a  man  as  his  fellow.  For  the  most  part, 
however,  the  flesh  he  carried  kept  him 
easy-going  and  good-natured. 

And  all  he  did  now  was  to  look  at 
Red  with  some  reproachful  indignation. 
"  Hello,  old  chum,  we  was  pretty  near 
gettiu'  to  think  that  you'd  been  givin' 
us  the  shake." 

Cut  Nose  had  kept  his  eyes  fixed  upon 
Red  steadily  and  evilly  for  almost  a 
minute.  "Oh,"  he  said,  at  length,  and 
licked  his  tongue  about  his  lips,  "  I  guess 
he  wouldn't  try  doin'  thaV 

Red  stood  where  he  was,  gulping  with 
uncertainty. 

"  Oh,  well,  anyways,  he 's  back  with  us 
now."  Fat  evidently  wanted  to  smooth 
out  the  situation.  "  And  ain't  he  just 
turned  up,  too,  when  the  Doctor  or^ 
deredf "    He  winked  at  the  crowd  in 

55 


REDNEY  McGAW 


i! 


general.  "Wasn't  wo  just  lookin'  for 
that  Irish-mahogany  top  of  hisi  — Fer 
when  this  Deutsche!-  lad  over  here  goes 
out  of  his  way  to  tell  us  he  can  lick  any- 
thing of  his  weight  in  America—!" 

And  then  Red  saw  that  looking  on  at 
his  left  was  the  solemn-faced  "  Midget 
Hans,"  tlio  little  Saxon  Samson  who 
supported  his  great-grandmother. 

"  That '  s  right !  "  Cut  Nose  caught  up 
Fat's  suggestion  in  a  minute;  "that's 
what  he  said."  He  shoved  the  dice-box 
back  into  his  pocket,  with  a  new  relish 
in  things.  "An',  friend  McGaw,  when 
we  told  him  that  you  could  put  him  out 
in  about  three  minutes,  he  said  he'd  like 
fine  to  give  you  the  chance!  " 

There  was  no  need  for  Red  to  be  told 
that  Hans  had  said  nothing  of  the  kind. 
Indeed,  the  little  German  was  now  try- 
ing hard  to  get  back  through  the  circle 
himself.  But  Fat  reached  out  and  held 
him.    And  Red    know  very  well  what 

5G 


A   FKJUr 


was  coming,  too.  He  Lad  seen  enough 
of  tha  sort  of  thing  in  the  past.  He 
and  Hans  were  going  to  be  made  to 
fight. 

It  was  not  that  Fat,  at  any  rate,  was 
essentially  cruel.  He  merely  wished  to  be 
entertained  himself,  and  to  entertain  the 
crowd.  As  both  he  and  Cut  Nose  looked 
at  it,  too,  "  it  did  kids  a  lot  o'  good  to 
scrap."  And  Fat  giinned  encouragement 
at  Hans.  "  Say,  you  can  do  him,  can't 
you! " 

Hans  nervously  shook  his  head. 

Cut  Nose  reached  out  and  took  hold  of 
Red.  "Well,  you  can  bet  he  thinks  he 
can,  anyways.  An'  say,  I  would  n't  let 
any  white-eyed  Katzenjammer  think  that 
about  me!  An'  you  a  good  year  older 
than  him,  at  that !  ' ' 

"  The  more  reason  I  wouldn't  want  to 
scrap  him,"  said  Red.  "And  I  ain't  got 
nothin'  on  him,  neither." 

"  Sure  you  have  !     Ain'  t  he  a  Deutscher 

57 


KEDNEY  McGAW 


and  ain't  you  a  Yanki    What  more  do 
youse  want?" 

Hans  was  again  stnggling  to  be  free. 
But  Fat  gripped  him  anew  by  his  elbows. 
"Ah,  come  on  now,  leery.  We'd  rather 
fight  than  eat !  "  And  shoving  Hans'  fist 
forward,  he  managed  to  strike  Red  lightly 
with  it. 

"  Say; '  said  Cut  Nose, "  I  would  n't  take 
that  from  him !  " 

"  Ah,  I  guess  it  didn't  come  from  him! 
.  .  .  Aw,  youse  lads  let  up,  now.  This 
ain't  our  scrappin'  day." 

"Every  day's  your  scrappin'  day  if 
you  've  got  the  right  sort  of  stuff  in  you." 

The  boys  were  driven  at  each  other 
from  both  sides.  But  they  contrived  to 
come  together  so  that  it  hurt  only  a  little. 

"Fling  them  in  again,  Fat." 

And  this  time  their  heads  struck  so 
that  it  hurt  more  than  any  blow  from  a 
fist  could  have. 

"You  see,"  said  Fat,  with  a  kind  of 

58 


i  I 


A  FIGHT 


sympathy,  "  that 's  what  you  get  for  not 
bein'  sports." 

The  third  time  Red  flung  out  an  arm 

to  cover  his  face,  and  his  elbow  caught 

a  is  helpless  opponent  in  the  mouth.    At 

that  Hans  gasped  miserably  and  made  a 

notion  to  put  up  his  own  defence. 

"Ah,  there  you're  talkin',"  said  Cut 
Nose.    •*  Get  into  it,  now,  get  into  it !  " 

Again  they  tried  to  hold  back  They 
were  half  crying,  and  they  looked  at  each 
other  piteously,  but  the  big  fingers  sunk 
mercilessly  into  their  arms,  and  once 
more  they  were  thrown  together.  They 
hit  out  in  desperation,  almost  without 
knowing  that  they  did  so. 

"  Now ,  that 's  somethin'  like !  That 's 
the  pure  McCoy !  That 's  what  you  come 
here  for!  " 

And  then,  very  suddenly,  a  number  of 
other  people  seemed  to  arrive.  Four  huge 
men  dropped  down  into  that  grass-grown 
cellar,  shouting  things  in   German.    It 

59 


ii: 


REDNEY  McGAW 


was  the  elder  brothers  of  the  Saxon  Sam- 
son family ! 

"Skids!"  thought  Red,  weakly;  "now 
I'll  be  gettin'  it  from  them  as  well!" 
And  already  a  hand  as  big  as  a  leg  of 
mutton  had  its  grip  on  him. 

But  already,  too,  Hans,  in  a  quiver  of 
gesticulation,  was  explaining  what  the 
actual  situation  was. 

Whereat  Big  Heinie  Miiller  and  Lud- 
wig  his  worthy  compeer  laid  hold  upon 
Fat  and  Cut  Nose.  It  was  also  plain 
that  they  had  had  to  do  with  ugly  custom- 
ers before.  For  with  a  swift  dexterity 
which  no  one  could  have  looked  for  from 
such  sons  of  Anak,  they  ran  their  hands 
up  and  down  the  pair  in  search  of 
weapons.  From  Cut  Nose  they  removed 
a  long,  ugly-looking  knife. 

"  Circuses  iss  derrible  dangerous 
blaces,"  said  Big  Heinie,  who  was  look- 
ing after  Fat.  And  then  he  a}>peared  to 
have  a  happj'  and  original  idea.    From 

60 


i: 


flmp 


A  FIGHT 


the  bushiest  depths  of  his  tremendous 
throat  he  made  a  suggestion. 

"Ach,  so-o-o-o!"  agreed  Ludwig  de- 
lightedly, beaming  upon  Cut  Nose  like  a 
yellow-whiskered  sun. 

And  before  those  two  fight  organizers 
had  any  realization  of  their  fate  them- 
selves, they  were  squared  up  and  driven 
at  each  other,  even  as  Bed  and  Hans  had 
been! 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  at  first  Fat  and 
Cut  Nose  regarded  it  as  some  kind  of 
leather-headed  German  joke. 

When  thrust  forward  till  they  all  but 
rubbed  jowls,  while  they  resisted  as  best 
they  could,  they  met  each  other's  eyes 
with  a  sheepish  grin. 

"Iss  it  to  1  ugh,  yessf  "  asked  Fat, 
facetiously. 

But  at  that  moment  their  faces  came 
together  with  a  bump! 

"  Ah,  twenty-three!  —  What  you  lettin' 
them  do?"   barked  Cut  Nose. 

61 


i^K;  -ryi  K  frt  STNiW  MtBMT 


REDNEY  MoGAW 


1 


M 


"  Ah,  could  I  help  . 

A  second  time  they  collided,  head  on. 

And  now  the  effect  was  immediate. 
Plunging  and  pitching,  and  calling  upon 
the  onlookers  to  help  them,  they  tried 
furiously  to  free  themselves. 

Their  exertions  taught  them  just  two 
things  —  in  the  hands  of  that  mighty 
couple  from  Saxony  they  were  about  as 
powerful  as  a  pair  of  blind  puppies. 
Secondly,  from  that  canvas-man  audience 
they  could  expect  not  even  sympathy ! 

All  the  while  Haub  had  been  imparting 
to  his  seniors  those  manly  exhortations 
to  combat,  which  a  few  minutes  before 
had  been  coming  so  freely  from  the 
present  oaptives  themselves. 

"Ya,  ya!  "  repeated  Ludwig.  "They 
had  radder  fight  as  eat ! ' ' 

"Jawohl!"  boomed  Big  Heinle;  "if 
you  are  not  Dentsch  and  he  iss  not  a 
Yankee,  yoost  imagine  you  are  two  of 
der    gteat    world    powers  and    therefore 

<)2 


MMMH 


A  FIGHT 


should  you  fight !  "  He  caught  one  of 
Pat's  back-flung  heels  and  gave  it  a 
velvet  twist  which  almost  too.   it  off. 

And  ther  the  two  were  sent  at  each 
other  a  third  time.  Cut  Nose's  wildly 
jerking  right  hand  pawed  his  fellow 
across  the  mouth. 

"  Ach,du  lieber,' '  said  Ludwig,  with  feel- 
ing —  "  I  voot  not  take  that  from  him." 

Saying  which  he  and  his  fellow  Sam- 
son seized  them  by  the  wrists,  and  they 
were  made  to  punch  each  other  with 
method  and  deliberation. 

"It  iss  a  pleasure,  yessf  "  asked  Big 
Heinie.  .  .  .  "Ach,  ach,  ach!  "  he  re- 
proved ;  "  if  you  swear,  so  shall  you  fight 
yet  more." 

They  yelled  and  heaved  backward. 
"  Cripesf  —  Judas  priest/  —  Why  don't 
some  of  the  rest  of  youse  pile  on!" 

*'  Why,  ain't  we  enjoyin'  it  fine  the  way 
it  «s/"  asked  a  lanky  stake-driver  with  a 
straw  in  his  mouth. 

63 


REDNEY  McGAW 


I 


Hans  still  coached  his  brother  from  a 
soul  inflamed  with  vengeance. 

"  Effery  day  is  your  fightin'  day  if  you 
are  sports!"  repeated  Ludwig,  unctu- 
ously, and  he  shoved  his  man  into  the 
enemy's  batteries  again.  "  That  is  what 
you  came  here  f or ! " 

Cut  Nose  managed  to  twist  about  and 
to  fling  himself  at  his  captor,  open- 
mouthed. 

The  latter  did  not  even  close  his  hands 
to  deal  with  him.  He  caught  his  fore- 
arm and  whirled  him  entirely  off  his 
feet. 

Then  once  more  their  faces  were 
bumped  together.  And  in  a  baffled  par- 
oxysm they  struck  out  nmch  as  cactus- 
cornered  rattle-snakes  are  said  to  set 
their  fangs  venomously  into  themselves. 
As  often,  too,  as  they  tried  to  stop,  once 
again  they  were  ruthlessly  launched 
forward. 

And,  with  howls  of  rage,  they  had  been 

04 


A  FIGHT 


hammering?  each  other  for  a  good  five 
minutes,  when  from  the  top  of  the  celki- 
there  was  a  cry  of,  ''Jigger!— Jigger!  — 
The  show  cops!" 

The  policemen  were  still  far  enough 
away.  But  in  a  minute  the  crowd  had 
begun  to  scatter.  The  Saxon  Samsons 
released  their  grip  upon  their  victims. 
They  even  suffered  Cut  Nose  to  pick  up 
his  weapon  again.  And  for  a  moment  it 
seemed  to  be  a  toss-up  if  he  would  not  use 
it.    But  he  thought  better  of  it  in  the  end. 

"Come  on,  youse,"  called  Fat  to  Red; 
"  what    yuh  waitin'  for!  " 

"Ah,"  said  Red,  "I  guess  I'll  be  stay- 
in'  with  the  Show." 

Cut  Nose  ran  back  towards  him. 
"  Youse  come  on  along !  " 

"Nah,"  and  Red  backed  in  behind 
Ludwig  and  Gustav;  "I  guess  I  won't 
be  travellin'  with  youse  lads  no  more.  I 
don't  know  as  I  like  tellin'  hard-luck 
stories." 

6  65 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"All  right!"  yelled  Cut  Nose.  "All 
right,  young  bo!  We'll  see  how  youso 
feel  about  that  later  on."  And  catching 
another  glimpse  of  the  approaching  uni- 
forms, he  rapidly  followed  Fat  in  the 
direction  of  the  railway  sidings. 

When  Big  Heinie  was  asked  what  the 
trouble  was,  he  answered,  "  Ach,  noddings, 
noddings.  We  yoost  been  havin'  a  leedle 
fun." 

But  Midget  Hans  '^ished  back  to  his 
trunk  in  the  dressing-room  and  wrote 
another  letter  to  his  gi-eat-grandmother. 
She  had  several  times  spoken  of  coming 
to  America.  And  he  wanted  her  to  know 
exactly  the  sort  of  place  America  really 
was! 


GG 


CHAPTER  VI 

ON   THE  JUMP 

Of  the  dish-ivash  squads;  a  Homeric  contest 
with  battle  lines  extending  between  suds 
and  cook  tent;  of  Togo  and  Nogo;  a 
loading  at  night  and  how  it  feels  to 
"  belong. 


>» 


A 


T  eleven  Red  was  given  notice  to  re- 
port at  the  "  cook  tent "  —  or  circus 
dining  hall. 

He  had  already,  at  the  breakfast  hour, 
come  to  know  it  in  one  way.  At  eight  it 
had  hoisted  a  red  flag.  And  next  moment 
about  half  the  people  in  the  Show  had 
started  on  the  run  for  it  as  if  it  were  on 
fire.  He  had  run,  too.  He  had  dis- 
covered that  the  red  flag  meant  that 
=  breakfast  was  ready.    And  he  had  had 

I  such  a  breakfast  as  he  had  not  had  in 

67 


REDNEY  McGAW 


years,  — the  best  of  everything,  cvery- 
thiag  hot,  and  all  you  could  possibly 
eat. 

Noiv  he  was  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  the  cook  tent  as  a  "dish  wash." 
And  after  his  first  golden  visions  of  enter- 
ing Dubuque  as  a  clown,  or  an  elephant 
keeper,  it  must  be  confessed  that  to  go  as 
a  "  dish  wash  "  did  not  seem  just  all  it 
might  have  been. 

But  he  was  soon  to  find  that  there  was 
a  lot  more  to  say  nbout  that. 

Behind  the  cook  tent,  and  flanked  )*y 
great  piles  and  pyramids  of  supplies, 
stood  the  "range  wagon,"— a  mighty 
cooking-stove  on  wheels,  capable  of  pro- 
viding a  meat  breakfast  for  eleven  hun- 
dred people  in  from  seventy  to  eighty 
minutes.  Beside  the  range  wagon  stood 
something  much  like  the  boiler  of  a  steam 
engine.  Only  the  steam  from  it,  con- 
veyed in  an  elaborate  system  of  p^pes, 
served  to  boil  the  huge  cauldrons  of  soup 

68 


ON  THE  JUMP 


:  nd  vegetables,  steep  the  tea,  "  French  " 
the  coffee,  and  keep  the  cooked  meats  hot 
in  the  big,  savory  "steam  boxes." 

From  that  boiler,  too,  another  system 
of  piping  carried  hot  water  to  two  waist- 
high  lines  of  long,  sloping  zinc  pans.  In 
these  pans  the  dishes  were  washed. 
There  were  two  squads  of  washers,  one 
for  each  side  of  the  tent;  they  called 
themselves  the  "  Blues  "  and  the  "  Reds." 
As  was  only  proper  Mr.  McGaw  was  made 
a  member  of  the  latter  brigade.  And 
what  he  had  imagined  would  be  mere, 
everyday  dishwashing,  he  now  found  to 
be  a  regular,  thirty-men-on-a-side  match 
game,  to  bent  anything  ever  seen  on  a 
diamond  or  a  gridiron. 

In  both  cases  the  captain  was  "  tea-and- 
coff'ie-mau"  at  the  table  nearest  his  pans. 
And  for  the  first  half  Ixour  of  the  meal 
most  of  his  men  had  to  act  as  waiters. 
All,  too,  had  to  take  at  leasi  fifteen  min- 
utes off  for  thoir  own  dinners.     But,  after 

09 


REDNEY  McOAW 


■ 


that,  those  captains  flung  their  aprons 
away  and  sent  up  a  shout  for  turbine 
speed. 

In  an  instant,  as  if  from  nowhere  at  all, 
there  sprang  up  between  tables  and  pans 
two  pairs  of  fiercely  rival  lines.  As  if  on 
an  endless  "  conveying  belt "  a  manifold, 
tumultuous  succession  of  cups  and  saucers, 
plates,  bowls,  and  cutlery,  whirled  out  to 
the  washers,  spun  through  their  sudsy 
hands  back  to  the  lightning  fingers  of  the 
dryers, — a  gross  of  towels  were  used  at 
every  meal,  —  and  thence  down  the  return 
line  to  their  places  on  the  table  again. 

"  Reds"  and  "  Blues"  worked  in  plain 
sight  of  each  other.  And  every  ^-^lallest 
tie-up  in  the  enemy's  lines  was  saiutbd 
with  whoops  of  joy  and  spurts  of  CL'^rgy 
more  desperate  than  any  before  them. 

"  Come  on,  now !  come  on,  now!  come 
on!  "  the  captains  kept  crying.  But  all 
«uch  urging  was  entirely  needless.  Both 
those  double  lines  were  doing  flying  team- 

70 


wmmmm 


■■I 


ON  THE  JUMP 


work  together  like  two  ^'eat  sixty-armed, 
panting  monsters.  Human  pressure  could 
go  no  further. 

Red  was  a  beginner,  —  but  he  did  not 
feel  like  a  beginner  long.  "Say,"  he 
gloated  to  the  young  fellow  next  him,  "  I 
kind  o'  like  this  all  right !  I  kind  o'  think 
I  '11  stay  with  this  awhile !  " 

His  side  was  a  good  forty  seconds  ahead 
when  a  plate  slipped  from  a  dryer's  hand, 
struck  an  iron  cleat  and  smashed. 

"One  man  off  the  Reds  on  penalty  !" 
shouted  the  cook-tent  boss. 

With  a  roar  of  triumph  the  "  Blues " 
took  hold  again.  They  maintained  their 
burst  for  a  minute,  —  a  minute  and  a  half, 
—  two  minutes !  Their  last  cup  shot  back 
to  the  table.    They  had  won  out ! 

"  Ah,  skidoo !  "  cried  the  newest  "  dish 
wash  "  of  them  all ;  "  and  we  had  a  skinch 
on  it !  I  told  the  chief  I  did  n't  need  any- 
thing to  eat  to-day.  Except  for  him 
makin'  me  stop  for  that,  we  might  of 

71 


1.0 


150 

Li 
tii 

Hi 

m 

lb 


|2^ 

■  06 

|4  0 


2.5 


2.2 


2.0 


1.8 


MICROCOPY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

NATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  STANDARDS 

STANDARD  REFERENCE  MATERIAL  1010a 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


REDNEY  McGAW 


w  on !     But  wait  till  we  get  loose  ou  them 
at  supper!'^ 

And  for  such  hours  of  ecstasy  he  was 
to  be  paid  four  dollars  and  a  half  a  week ! 

"  Heh,"  he  said,  "  clowns  an'  elephant 
men  are  maybe  all  right  fer  what  they 
got  to  do.  But  they  ain't  got  anything 
on  this!  " 

After  that  noon  wash-up,  too,  he  had 
a  period  of  freedom.  He  proceeded  to 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Side  Show.  And  there 
he  found  two  more  of  "  the  kind  o'  peo- 
ple it  was  worth  getti.a'  next  to."  They 
were  "  Togo  "  and  "  No^^o,"  "  The  Japan- 
ese Twins,"  the  worthy  successors  of 
their  never-to-be-forgotten  brothers  from 
Siam. 

And  though  from  their  youth  up  "  To- 
go ' '  and  "  Nogo ' '  had  been  attached  to  each 
other  by  some  six  inches  of  their  very 
heart-chords  as  it  were,  they  proved  at 
once  that  this  in  no  way  prevented  them 

72 


ON   THE  JUMP 


from  becoming  attached  to  other  people. 
They  were  undoubtedly  two  of  the  most 
smiling  young  Japs  who  ever  came  to 
America.  And  Red's  own  fine  Irish  smile 
might  well  have  made  him  at  one  with 
them  immediately. 

Further,  Togo  and  Nogo  had  shown 
how  rapidly  you  can  become  naturalized 
by  taking  to  the  English,  —  or  the  Ameri- 
catif  —  language,  and  to  amateur  photog- 
raphy both  at  the  same  time ! 

At  first  Red  watched  those  four  hands 
move,  as  if  all  from  the  same  shoulders, 
among  films  and  shutters  and  mounting 
cards  with  a  creepy  fascination.  But 
when  he  had  once  commenced  to  get  over 
that  he  began  to  feel  that  he  was  exactly 
the  person  that  those  amateur  photog- 
raphers needed  to  meet.  For  his  last 
employer  had  been  a  camera  fiend,  —  had 
"  developed  "  in  one  of  his  inside  office- 
rooms.  And  Red  was  able  to  tell  the 
Japanese  Twins  some  things  about  pho- 

73 


REDNEY  McGAW 


tography  which  they  certainly  could 
neve.'  have  learned  from  anybody  else. 
For  his  own  part,  too,  within  an  hour  he 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  as  friends 
Togo  and  Nogo  might  be  all  right;  that, 
in  fact  they  might  be  just  about  the 
swellest  ever  — "if  only  youse  could  tell 
whether  to  say  him  or  them.'' 

There  was  another  dish-washing  match 
at  supper-time.  And  once  more,  alas, 
the  hated  Blues  were  victors. 

But  after  that  meal  there  were  other 
things  to  think  about.  The  dishes  did 
not  go  back  upon  the  tables.  They  were 
packed  into  big  crates.  The  tables  them- 
selves were  folded  together  an  \  the  seats 

taken  up. 

And  almost  before  the  last  of  them 
were  cleared  a\Yay,  poles  and  canvas 
were  brought  down  with  a  running  rush 
at  the  hands  of  Reds  and  Blues  together. 
For  the  cook  tent  and  all  connected 
with    it    tad    to    be    put    aboard   the 

74 


ON  THE  JUMP 


"  Flying  Squadron,"  the  first  of  the  four 
long,  resplendent  circus  trains.  And 
breakfast  must  be  ready  on  a  new  lot, 
at  seven  next  morning,  in  Cleveland. 

As  the  last  of  the  cook-tent  trucks,  the 
ponderous  eight-ton  range-wagon,  trundled 
across  the  windy  common.  Red  joined  the 
line  that  followed  it  to  the  sidings.  At  the 
forward  end  of  the  "Flying  Squadron" 
stood  the  sleeping  car  in  which  he  now  had 
his  own  place  and  berth  number.  But  dusk 
had  barely  fallen  and  he  did  not  go  aboard. 

There  was  too  much  that  was  worth 
seeing  outside.  The  loaders, —  "  razor 
backs"  in  circus  language,  —  were  put- 
ting the  great  clanking  parade  wagons 
on  the  flat  cars.  To  the  end  of  the  last 
"flat"  they  had  hooked  a  species  of 
sheet-iron  inclined  plane  or  skidway. 
Between  the  cars,  from  one  end  of  the 
train  to  the  other,  they  hau  laid  thin  iron 
bridges.  And  so,  as  fast  as  those 
tarpaulin     co\ei'ed    chariots     could    be 

75 


m 


ill 


'■i 


REDNEY  McGAV' 


hauled  up  the  skidway,  a  single  team  of 
torses,  — with  a  man  using  the  pole  of  • 
the  cha-iot  as  a  steering  tiller,  —  could 
run  it  the  full  way  forward.  When  the 
big  wagons  had  been  "rolled  home," 
their  wheels  were  anchored  in  deeply 
grooved  iron  cradles.  And  they  followed 
each  other  at  the  rate  of  two  a  minute. 

It  grew  darker,  and  every  few  yards 
along   the    tracks   gasoline   flares    were 
lit  up.    The  forty  or  fifty  teams  at  work 
weaved  in  and  out  among  them  in  a  kind 
of  great,  deliberate,  equine  minuet,  and 
now  from  the  emptying  menagerie,  rut- 
tling,  banging,  and  jolting  came  the  cage 
wagons.    As  each  cage  was  tilted  for  the 
skidway,  its  inmates  in  turn  sent  forth 
their  individual    yells    of    fury.      Tb^n 
came  the  circus  "  stock,"  —  not  cows  and 
horses,  but  zebus  and  gnus,  water  buffa- 
loes,   guanacos,   and    emus.     And  after 
them  again,  in  mighty  procession,  —  it 
was  like  all  Stonehenge  on  the  move,— 

76 


ON  THE  JUMP 


down  the  eerie  line  of  flares  marched 
the  elephants ! 

The  scene  became  one  to  dream  about. 
And  Red  did  dream  about  it.  At  first, 
when  he  had  learned  tb  at  tl  ^  we  x-e  to  leave 
for  Cleveland  that  night,  ^  knowledge 
had  mainly  served  cO  make  him  a  lot  more 
easy  in  his  thoughts  about  a  certain  pair  of 
gentlemen  whom  they  would  be  leaving 
well  behind  in  Buffalo.  But  now  Fat  and 
Cut  Nose  filled  his  thoughts  no  more. 

He  was  "  bedded  down  "  in  a  berth  in 
one  of  the  sleepers  of  The  Big  Show !  — 
That  was  the  thought  he  felt  it  was 
worth  millions  ;  jst  to  lie  there  and  let 
soak  into  him !  He  "  helongtd  "  \  He 
had  "joined  out"  I 

But  by  degrees  dream  and  reality 
•seemed  to  get  all  mixed  up  ard  rui*  to- 
gether. And  he  slept  until,  with  a  long 
groan  of  air  brakes,  his  train  pulled  into 
Cleveland  and  took  its  siding. 


77 


; 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  POLE  WAGON 

The  menagerie  tent  again;  first  acquaint- 
ance tvith  Mrs.  Muller,  better  known  as 
Madam  Rosalinda;  reappearance  of 
Messrs.  Fat  and  Cut  Nose;  and  how 
Elephants  McNally  came  pretty  near 
having  to  do  "  some  fightin' .' ' 

AT  that  breakfast  "dish  wash"  in 
Cleveland  it  was  the  Reds  who  won- 
And  this  time  Mr.  McGaw  could  set  forth 
to  view  the  new  lot  with  a  soul  chesty 
with  triumph. 

He  intended  to  call  on  Elephants 
McNally  in  the  menagerie  tent.  And 
he  almost  made  the  mistake  of  going  to 
the  regular  entrance  and  waiting  tamely 
till  the  door  man  had  examined  his 
pass! 

78 


THE  POLE  WAGON 


But  he  stopped  himself  in  time.  He 
walked  on  along  the  tent,  and,  lifting  a 
side  wall,  ducked  abstractedly  under. 

In  a  moment  a  watchman  was  charging 
down  upon  him. 

Red  looked  at  him  in  a  languid  sur- 
prise. "Ah,  what's  the  matter  with 
you? "  he  asked,  and  held  out  his  pass  — 
"  Ain't  <Ms  good?" 

It  was  good.  And  lifting  his  chest 
another  three  inches  he  continued  his 
way  down  the  sawdust. 

According  to  the  custom  of  The  Big 
Show  two  local  reporters  were  just  about 
to  be  permitted  to  enter  the  leopards'  den, 
there  to  be  photographed  and  write  up 
their  experiences  for  the  afternoon 
editions.  These  particular  leopards  were 
rather  tamer  than  Maltese  mousers.  But, 
as  a  "stunt,"  it  flattered  the  reporters' 
vanity,  and  accordingly  it  was  good 
advertising. 

Red    had   just  offered  to   enter  that 

79 


REDNEY  McGAW 


leopards'  den  himself  when  he  caught 
sight  of  Elephants.  And  then  he  grew 
suddenly  bashful. 

"Hello,"  cried  McNally,  cheerfully, 
"how's  the  laughin'  jackasses?" 

Attracted  by  the  echo  of  something 
familiar  Coakeney  also  showed  up. 

"Ho,  it's  Mr.  McGaw,  is  iti  Wei. 
we  would  n't  mind  you  goin'  in  with  the 
leopards  so  much.  But,  my  word,  I  would 
be  nervous  if  '  ..aw  you  h'enterin'  th.» 
snyke  departme:  t.  I'd  be  afryde  o' 
you  gettin'  into  a  scrim  and  chowkin 
the  pythons  to  death!  " 

"  Ah,  say,"  said  Red,  blushing  fiercely, 
"  I  don't  know  as  that  was  so  terrible 
funny." 

A  sharp-eyed  little  woman  in  a  uniform 
jacket  turn  3d  back  from  the  crowd.  "  Ach, 
de  fakirs!  "  she  muttered  with  scorn. 

"That's  what,  Mrs.  Miiller,"  said 
McNally. 

"  Dey  would  n't  want  deir  photographs 

80 


CO 
J3 


3 

3 

a 
o 


C4 

-3 

a 


3 
O 

'Ji 


*   '^-ff^. 


»-'A/.' 


THE  POLE  WAGON 


took  ill  mit  dot  folI"r."  She  pointed 
down  the  row  of  cages  to  where  a  beauti- 
ful black  panther  with  a  vibrancy  as  of 
fire  paced  up  and  down  his  den. 

"Huh,  vou  can  see  he's  fierce  all 
right!  "  said  Red.  "  I  bet  nobody  don't 
go  in  with  him !  " 

"Only  der  ket^por  und  me,"  answered 
the  little  woma^'   simply. 

Mr.  >  Jaw's  oyes  became  as  big  as 
five-cent  alleys :  "  Say,  are  you  Madam 
Rosalinda,  the  lion  tamer?  " 

"Ya,  —  lion  tamer,  —  also  birdt  tamer, 
also  white-mice  tamer,  also  der  fiying 
trapeze !  "  she  laughed. 

"  And  she 's  the  only  person  in  the  biz !" 
added  McNally.  "  She  could  teach  the 
lions  high-trapeze  work  in  a  day  or  two!" 

"  Say !  "  exclaimed  Red  ;  —  she  had 
almost  more  fascination  for  him  than 
Big  Heinie,  who,  he  now  remembered,  was 
her  husband !  —  "  Say !  I  wish 't  you  'd 
learn  me  how!  " 

e  81 


11 

li 


REDNEY  McGAW 


They  all  laughed. 

"  And  the  little  Heinle  in  New  York," 
asked  Coakeney  of  Mrs.  Miiller— "is 
that  there  three-sized  dad  of  'is  still 
troublin'  about  'm?  " 

"Ach!"  — she  lifted  up  her  hands 
quite  hopelessly;  "  only  last  night  alretty 
deir  wass  one  leedle  monkey  sick,  und 
der  man,  he  won't  his  eat  supper  and 
keep  sayin' :  *  Mutter,  1  'm  tinkin'  some- 
dings  '11  happen  mit  our  leedle  feller 
yet!'" 

The  two  keepers  laughed  again. 

Mrs.  Miiller  turned  maternally  to  Red. 
"And  you,  are  you  mit  the  Show?  " 

"Sure,  lam!" 

"  Then  I  learn  you  somedings  better  as 
peast-tamin' ;  I  tell  you  how  to  keep 
out  of  danger.  Stay  ever  by  your  own 
work.  You  shall  always  be  safe  while 
you  are  worMn'y 

She  turned  and  walked  across  the 
tent. 

82 


f 


'  SV»9(a»!PT>B^' 


THE  POLE  WAGON 


This  was  not  just  what  Red  had 
wanted.  But  he  liked  Mrs.  Miiller, 
and  he  told  himself  that  he  was  going 
to  see  more  of  that  small  lady. 

Which,  in  truth,  he  was. 

On  an  average  between  meals  the  cook- 
tent  squads  had  about  two  hours  of 
leisure. 

Some  of  the  young  fellows, — college 
students  who  were  taking  this  means  of 
earning  a  little  money  in  the  summer,  — 
pulled  books  out  of  their  pockets  and 
sought  the  shade  of  the  big  empty  vans. 
Others  went  off  for  a  sleep.  But  Red 
divided  his  time  between  amateur  photog- 
raphy with  Togo  and  Nogo,  and  listening 
to  Elephants  and  Coakeney  talk  about 
wild  animals. 

McNally  for  his  part  seemed  to  be  a 
kind  of  general  utility  man  around  the 
Show.  He  had  been  in  the  business  so 
long  and  possessed  such  a  more  than 
Yankee  ingenuity  in  handling  all  uncom- 

83 


REDNEY  McGAW 


r 


mon  difficulties  that  he  was  generally 
called  in  when  everyone  else  had  failed. 
It  was  no  time  till  Red  was  both  marvel- 
ing at  him  as  a  genius  and  confiding  in 
him  as  an  elder  brother. 

And  in  Cleveland  he  showed  himself 
an  elder  brother  indeed. 

About  half  past  five  that  afternoon 
Red  was  standing  alone  outside  the 
menagerie  tent.  The  Or.  M.  came  by 
and  spoke  to  him  as  he  passed.  He  did 
not  say  much.  He  merely  asked  him 
how  he  liked  his  dishwash  ug  work. 
And  when  he  answered  "  that  he  did  n't 
know  why  they  called  that  dishwashin' 
job  work  at  all,"  the  G.  M.  gave  him 
back  his  grin,  and  said,  "  Then  you  '11  be 
a  good  American  yet."  And  what  did  he 
mean  by  that! 

Red  was  still  exercising  his  brains  over 
it  when  he  turned  to  go  on  again,  —  and 
then  he  jumped  a  yard.  As  if  the  Big 
Show  had  never  left  Buffalo,  Fat  and 

84 


THE  POLE  WAGON 


Cut  Nose  were  shuffling  rapidly  up  to 
him! 

"  Ah,  youse  needn't  be  so  shy  of  us," 
said  Fat,  sorely ;  "  We'  ve  crossed  it  off 
as  far  as  you  We  concerned." 

"An',  shy  or  not,"  said  Cut  Nose, 
getting  around  to  the  other  side  of  him, 
"  by  Gee,  he 's  anyways  goin'  to  tell  us 
where  we  can  get  at  them  this  and  that 
Deutscher  pals  of  his!" 

Now,  from  their  viewpoint.  Fat  and 
Cut  Nose  were  two  individuals  who  had 
suffered  intolerable  wrong.  And  having 
by  untiring  exertions  caught  up  with  the 
show  they  designed  somehow  or  other 
to  take  it  out  of  those  Saxon  Samsons 
a  hundred  times  over.  In  fact,  they  felt 
that  they  were  showing  magnanimity 
enough  in  having  given  up  any  intention 
of  taking  it  out  of  Red,  the  deserter.  As 
for  Red  he  could  not  know  all  that.  He 
only  knew  that  Fat  was  grasping  at  his 
arm.    He  pulled  back  till  he  was  against 

85 


REDNEY  McGAW 


in 


the  canvas  of  the  menagerie  tent,  and 
«  Elephants! "  he  yelled ;  "  Elephants! 

At  that  hurry  call  Elephants  was  out 
there  in  about  seven  seconds.  ^ 

"  Well,  an'  what  are  youse  lookin'  fori 

cried  Cut  Nose.  ,,  vt  n 

"Nothin'  at  all,"  answered   McNally 

with  calmness. 

Fat  still  kept  his  hold.  "  All  right, 
then,  friend,"  he  said,  "you  get  wise 
and  chase  back  to  where  youse  belong! 

"I  gues.^"  returned  Elephants,  even 
more  serenely,  "that  me  and  Redney 
here  beUngs  together."  Saying  which 
he  caught  the  hand  «till  gripping  Red 
and  gave  it  a  swift  inward  turn  that  was 
like  jiu-jitsu.  Fat  let  go  with  a  jerk  of 
pain  that  flamed  at  once  into  fury. 

A  few  yards  away  stood  a  pole  wagon. 
He  ran  for  the  back  of  it ;  he  pulled  out  a 
pipe-wrench  as  big  as  a  war  club,  and 
came  back  at  McNally  on  the  rush. 
One  might  have  believed  that  that  was 

86 


.  ^«r.?L--5?sf  • 


i?.?:^s£:s:. 


THE  POLE   WAGON 


precisely   what    iJephauts   was   looKing 

for. 

He  dropped  to  within  two  feet  of  the 
^-ound.  And  he  had  not  merely  ducked. 
He  shot  divingly  upon  all  fours.  His 
fingers  closed  about  Fat's  ankles,  and 
with  a  cry  of  foundered  helplessness  that 
gentleman  weni  on  over  him  and  came 
down  head  on.  The  fall  left  him  half 
stupefied.  All  the  fight  was  Jarred  out 
of  him  before  he  had  begun. 

Nor  did  McNally  stop  there.  Small  as 
he  was  he  whipped  about,  leaped  u^  ^n 
him  like  a  cat,  twisted  the  pipe-wre  .i 
away,  and  jumped  to  his  feet  again. 

But  he  had  still  to  deal  with  Cut  Nose. 
And  the  latter' s  hand  had  gone  behind 
him.  When  it  came  out  it  was  holding 
his  knife,  and  he  sprang  at  the  animal 
man  like  a  big  black    Jder. 

At  first  Red  thought  that  this  time 
Elephants  was  running  away.  But  when 
the  little  keeper  had  reached  that  pole 

87 


m^:k 


REDNEY  McGAW 

wagon  he  flung  the  wrench  behind  him 
and  pulled  out  something  else.  Tt  was 
a  circus  tent  stake,  a  five-foot  length  of 
hickory  thicker  than  a  man's  arm.  It 
seemed  to  Red  that  he  might  as  well 
have  thought  of  (defending  himself  with 
a  cordwood  stick. 

"  You  can't  mix  it  up  with  me  and  get 
away  with  it !  "  cried  Cut  Nose.  And  he 
flung  himself  forward. 

The  next  quarter  of  a  minute  taught 
Red  some  principles  of  defensive  tactics 
that  were  entirely  new. 

Elephants  spread  his  hands  some 
foot  and  a  half  apart,  so  that  he  could 
whirl  his  stake  in  either  direction.  The 
knife  clashed  slitheringly  down  one  end 
of  it,  and  the  other  end  swung  low  and 
caught  the  attacker  across  the  knee. 

Cut  Nose  yelped  with  pain,  and  then, 
springing  from  his  left  leg,  tried  to  close 
in  a  second  time. 
Two  other  circus  men  ran  up.    But 

88 


THE  POLE  WAGON 


McNally  declined  their  help.  "It'fe  all 
right,  boys,  it's  all  right!  No  cause 
for  any  excitement  whatever!  "  And  he 
seemed  simply  to  have  met  Cut  Nose's 
rash  by  turning  part  way  around.  But 
the  heavy  stake  spun  like  a  drum-major's 
baton,  —  and  now  Cut  Nose's  left  hand 
went  down. 

He  shook  it  as  if  he  had  hurt  his 
funnybone,  and  came  on  again. 

This  time  Elephants  stepped  sud- 
denly and  swiftly  backwards.  Cut  Nose's 
full  weight  came  upon  his  injured  leg. 
That  threw  him  to  one  side  and  uncovered 
his  gua  .  The  stake  swung  through  a 
quarter  circle,  and  the  man  with  the  knife 
received  it  on  the  back  of  his  thick-set 
neck.  He  pitched  over  on  all  fours.  The 
knife  flew  a  dozen  feet  ahead  of  him. 

McNally  picked  it  up  and  slid  it  into 
his  boot-leg.  "  I  'm  goin'  to  have  a  trunk- 
ful  of  these  things,' '  he  t?aid,  "  if  I  keep 
on.    You  lads  had  enough  f  " 

89 


REDNEY  McGAW 


They  had  had  enough.  Cut  Nose  had 
already  begun  limpingly  to  follow  Fut 
from  the  "lot."  "Youse  think,"  he 
said,  half  choked  by  his  rage,  "oh,  may- 
be youse  think  that  this  is  the  endin'  of 
this.    But  it 's  only  just  the  beginnin' !  " 

McNally  watched  them  go,  beating  a 
tattoo  on  his  cloven  chin  with  his  first  and 
second  finger.  The  a  he  returned  that  tent- 
stake  to  the  pole  wagon  as  imperturbably 
as  he  had  entered  into  the  affair. 

Red  worked  his  way  close  in  beside 
him.  "Skids!  "  he  said,  "how  long  did 
it  take  yen  to  learn  to  do  that  f  " 

"  About  fifteen  years.  And  you  've  had 
a  chance  just  now  to  see  what  happens 
to  people  who  do  their  fightin'  with 
knives.  Yes,  and  unless  you're  some 
yawpin'  windy-mouth  you  don't  need  to 
fight  more  'n  three  or  four  times  m  your 

life  at  that!  " 

"But  you  — you  said  you  had  near  a 
trunkful  of  knives  by  this  time!" 

90 


THE  POLE  WAGON 


"  Oh,"  returned  Elephants,  contemp- 
tuously, "of  course  there's  always  some 
little  trouble  or  other  keepin'  order  on  the 
lot  But  it 's  a  good  five  years  since  I  've 
done  any  fightin\^^ 

He  began  to  send  his  audience  "back 
to  their  regiments:"  "Now  boys,  now 
boys,  you've  all  got  your  work  to  do. 
You  've  had  more  sensation  to-day  than  is 
good  for  your  health,  —  and  a  mighty  sight 
too  much  for  the  good  of  the  Show. 
We're  not  supplyin'  material  for  any 
Sunday  Supple  ent.  So  try  to  get  it 
right  out  of  your  systems  again ! " 

Red  watched  him  with  an  admiration 
that  could  not  be  voiced  by  words.  Yet 
against  all  logic,  too,  he  felt  sort  of  sorry 
for  Fat  and  Cut  Nose.  He  knew,  of 
course,  they  would  never  rest  till  they  'd 
got  even  with  the  Big  Show;  very  likely 
they  'd  go  after  him  besides.  But  just  the 
same  as  the  under  dogs  they  had  his  secret 
sympathy.    And  you  can  take  your  choice 

91 


REDNEY  McGAW 


as  to  which  feeling  did  Mr.  Red  McGaw 
the  greater  honor. 

That  night  he  spoke  to  Elephants  about 
it  again.  "  But  you  never  tried  to  have 
them  pinched  or  nothin'.  O'  course  I 
wouldn't  want  yuh  to." 

"Well,  in  that  we  go  by  the  G.  M. 
And  whatever  his  reason  is,  the  G.  M. 
ain't  got  much  belief  in  the  good  of  havin' 
people  pinched.  He  says  it 's  a  wholo  lot 
easier  to  pmc^  them  than  to  unpinch  them. 
But  about  these  two  good  friends  of  yours, 
I  dunno,  —  I  dunno !  ' ' 

Red  had  begun  to  see  some  of  those  ad- 
ventures with  which  he  had  felt  the  whole 
life  of  Big  Shows  must  be  filled  to  intoxi- 
cation. Yet,  in  the  very  last  place  where 
we  might  have  looked  for  it,  he  had  also 
come  face  to  face  with  that  very  sobering 
question,  — the  maintenance  of  the  Reign 
of  Law. 


92 


•WBBWBB 


CHAPTER  VITI 


THE  BIG  TOP 

A  further  introduction  to  the  reign  of  order 
and  law;  performances  between  perform- 
ances: the  henry  weight  of  responsibility 
upon  the  shoulders  of  him  who  supports 
a  great-grandmother;  and  some  *^  ele- 
phant talk,^^  of  which  more  later  on. 

THEY  stayed  two  days  longer  in  Cleve- 
land, during  which  time  they  saw  no 
more  of  Fat  and  Cut  Nose  whatever. 
Then  they  struck  South  for  a  week  of 
one-day  stands  in  the  coal  and  oil  towns 
of  Ohio  and  Western  Pennsylvania. 

And  in  1^  reek  Red  not  only 
awakened  cOi.  .v:3tely  to  the  fullness  of 
the  Reign  of  Law  on  a  circus  lot,  but  he 
also  began  to  have  the  feeling  that  he 
was  a  part  of  something  a  great  deal 
larger  than  himself.    He  had  experienced 

93 


REDNEY  McGAW 


ii  111 


it  to  a  certain  degree  when  ho  became  a 
section  of  the  human  "  convoying  bolt 
which  washed  the  circus  dishes.  Kow 
he  began  to  realize  that  that  human  con- 
veying belt  was  about  the  very  smallest 
connecting  piece    in  the  machinery  of 

the  Big  Show. 

In  actual  sight  were  a  score  of  trades 
all  working  together.      And  there  were 
other  battalions  of  men,  far  in  advance, 
whom  you  never  saw  at  all.    One  squad 
covered  the   country  driving-sheds  and 
the  city  bill  boards  with  great  posters.    A 
second  selected  and  rented  and  laid  out 
the  successive  lots.    A  third  bought  the 
mountains  of  hay  and   straw,  and  the 
foothills  of  bags  of  oats  for  the  horse 
cent.    A  fourth  provided  the  tons  ot  ice 
for  the  refrigerators,  and  of  coal  for  the 
range-wagon.      It  was  the  business    of 
still  another  division  to  see  that  those 
500-pound    cold-storage   boxes   of    fresh 
meat "  came  on  "  all  right,  with  those  crates 

94 


THE  BIG  TOP 


1 

H 


-3 


of  fresh  vegetables  and  tubs  of  butter 
and  tins  of  coffee  and  all  the  hundred 
other  different  kin. Is  of  supplies.  More 
than  that,  everything  must  be  waiting 
exactly  in  the  right  place  on  the  lot  long 
before  the  vans  bearing  the  cook-tent 
"rolled"  upon  it.  Nod o  of  these  things 
happened  by  chance.  Aud  then  on  the  lot 
itself  that  huge  and  complicated  mech- 
anism of  human  hands  worked  as 
smoothly  and  as  rapidly  and  as  surely 
as  the  great  rotary  presses  that  used  to 
whirl  out  the  "extry's"  when  Red  made 
his  beginning  as  a  "  Newsy." 

And  if  at  first  it  had  been  sufficient 
for  him  merely  to  feel  himself  a  part  of 
the  conveying  belt,  now  he  had  grown 
to  feel  himself  a  part  of  the  whole 
immense  machine:  "If  he  wasn't  there 
when  called  for,  like  enough  there  'd  be 
a  hitch!" 

He  had  the  feeling,  too,  that  at  the 
very  center  of  the  driving  wheel  of  the 

95 


!>■     i^=^  JJPfcllK-- 


f  i-a*"-  *i«--«i.. 


r 


REDNEY  McGAW 


engine, -as  if  he  were  that  tiny,  ever- 
quiet  eye  of  the  mechanism,  -  sat  the 
G  M.  But  the  G.  M.  was  a  great  deal 
more  than  an  eye.    He  was  the  brain. 

When,  just  before  the  "  night  show  "  on 
Tuesday,  there  was  a  blow-up  among  the 
gasoline  tanks,  on  half  an  hour's  notice 
the  e.  M.  arranged  things  so  that  naphtha 
could  be  used  instead.    On  Wednesday 
the  Big    Show   had   to    travel    over    a 
railroad  so  small  and  ancient  that  the 
circus  trains  paralyzed  its  wheezy  old 
engines   completely.      And    the   G.   M. 
spent  most  of  the  night  getting  other 
engines  started  on  the  way  from  Pitts- 
burg.   On  Thursday  one  of  those  famous 
"Waltzing  Ponies"   suddenly  fell   sick 
and    died.     The    G.    M.   began  wiring 
within  ten  minutes  to  the  only  place  m 
America  where  there  was  another  trick 
pony  that  could  "pick  up  its  act." 

And  whenever  the   pressure  was   ofE 
he  always  found  time  to  stop  and  talk  to 

96 


THE  BIG  TOP 


somebody.  When  he  talked  to  Red  he 
would  express  his  deepest  sympathy  if 
the  Blues  happened  to  be  winning,  and 
ask  him  if  he  really  wasn't  hankering 
to  go  back  and  be  The  Human  Egg 
again?  One  day  when  he  had  to  lecture 
a  stupid  keeper  his  voice  seemed  to  grow 
even  gentler  than  it  ordinarily  was.  He 
was  certainly  the  kind  of  Great  Man  for 
Red's  money! 


When  no  performance  was  going  on 
there  were  several  different  places  on  the 
lot  where  it  was  good  to  be. 

The  "big  top"  was  one  of  them. 
Sometimes  Togo  and  Nogo  would  come 
into  it  and  climb  up  on  a  trapeze  and 
begin  to  do  stunts.  And  in  that,  "  they 
had  the  Siamese  Twins  beaten  to  a 
froth."  Their  Japanese  manager  had 
once  been  a  professional  wrestler;  and 
when,  as  frequently  occurred,  the  pair 
tried  to  take  a  fall  out  of  him,  it  was  a 
7  97 


:i 


I     i 
'     t- 


BEDKEY  McGAW 

^ight  worth  going  a  thousand  miles  to 
see  Those  Twins  should  rightly  have 
been  put  upon  the  bills  as  The  Japanese 

Octopus!  i„„™ 

In  the  big  top,  too,  you  could  always 
be  sure  of  finding  one  ot  the  troupes  of 
acrobats  practising  new  business.     They 
would  set  up  a  mechanique,  a  wide,  tall 
frame  of  steel  tubing,  from  which  hung 
a  pair  ot  leather  slings.    In  those  slmgs, 
by  a  sort    of   life  belt,  the  apprentice 
acrobat  was  suspended.    He  could  do  the 
flip-back  summersault  high  in  the  air,  or 
throw    himself     backwaids    from    the 
brawny  shoulders  of  one  "  ground  man 
to  another,  and  yet  never  put  himself  m 

danger.  ,    . 

When,  again,  some  lad  was  being 
trained  for  an  act  which  did  not  allow  of 
the  assistance  of  the  mechanique,  several 
of  the  older  gymnasts  from  the  other 
troupes  always  gathered  in  as  "safety 
men."    If    the    apprentice  slipped,  the 

98 


"  The  older  gvmnasts  always  gatlu-ied  in  as  '  safety  men.'  "     Pwje  '•« 


THE  BIG  TOP 


way  in  which  they  caught  him  before  he 
really  seemed  to  have  begun  to  fall 
amazed  Red  beyond  words. 

"If  you  don't  gatch  him,"  said  Biej 
Heinie  one  day  when  they  were  teaching 
Hans,  "maybe  he  break  a  leg  or  an 
arm  or  a  neck  or  somedings.  A^d,  ach 
du  lieber,  what  shall  that  great-grand- 
mother do  thenf  " 

It  was  evident  that  the  Saxon  Samsons 
cr^nsidered  the  support  of  a  great  grand- 
mother a  matter  that  might  be  joked 
about ! 

But  Hans'  own  attitude  '^ore  than 
counterbalanced  that.  And  as  for  Red, 
the  thought  of  Hans'  position  was  enough 
at  times  to  stop  his  smile !  He  had  a  re- 
spect for  him  which  halted  only  this  side 
of  reverence.  He  had  had  Ms  experience 
of  Supporting  people  in  the  two  or  three 
days  when  he  had  had  to  support  Fat 
and  Cut  Nose,  and  he  had  learned  from 
that! 

99 


REDNEY  McGAW 


And  in  the  course  of  their  second  af- 
ternoon in  Cleveland  he  ventured  to 
speak  to  Kans  about  it.  "Gee,"  he  said 
"if  it  was  me  I  would  n't  get  no  sleep  at 
nights.  I  once  heard  of  a  fellah  support- 
in'  his  grandmother.  But  ^reaf-grand- 
mothers!— Skids!" 

"  Many  nights  I  haf  not  slept,     said 

Hans. 

u  An'  Big  Heinie  says  you  been  sup- 
portin'  her  ever  since  you  been  eleven." 
«  Ya  But  when  I  wass  eleffen  only  it 
wass  not  so  schlecht,  so  badt.  I  wass  too 
voung  to  feel  der  respon-der  respomss- 
I  had  not  began  to  think  thereon  alretty. 

' '  Heh !    Then  if  I  was  you  I  would  n  t 
do  no  thinkin'  on  it  nowr  ^ 

-  Aher  now  must  I  think  of  it! '  cried 
Hans,  with  tragedy;  "neffer  can  I  make 
her  take  care  mit  herself !  It  is  fllrchtbar, 
fierce'  The  last  winter  I  am  home  she 
will  not  wear  her  headshawl  to  hang  the 
clothes  herout.     And  when  I  buy  her 

100 


THE  BIG  TOP 


■-^c 


another  yet,  she  lays  it  by  the  chest  away 
for  her  juMleejahr,  —  till  she  iss  a  huntert  1 
When  I  get  her  a  paar  American  rubbers 
from  New  York  back  she  puts  them  on 
the  parlor  for  a  curiosity!  " 

'•  Skids ! "  What  could  anybody  do  in 
a  case  like  that? 

And  from  further  acquaintance  with 
Hans  Red  discovered  that  there  was  an- 
other and  a  secret  matter  which  afflicted 
him  even  more  than  that  uncontrollable 
great-grandmother.  In  America  he  had 
always  traveled  with  the  Mlillers.  They 
had  become  like  parents  to  him ;  and  this 
season  with  the  Big  Show  was  almost  cer- 
tain to  be  their  last. 

Like  most  people  in  circus  life  they  had 
for  years  been  talking  of  getting  out  of  it 
and  going  into  something  else;  to  own 
an  American  farm  was  Big  Heinle's  idea 
of  earthly  happiness.  Until  this  year, 
though,  it  had  been  only  talk.  But  now 
there  was  that  "leedle    Heinle."    And 

101 


REDNEY  McGAW 


I 
1 


s      A 


some  seven  times  a  day  did  that  mighty 
father  of  his  obsei-ve  with  a  steadily  m- 
creasing  anxiety  that  "circnsses  wass 
derrible  dangerous  blaces,"  and  that 
"somedings  would  happen  mit  dot  leedle 
feller  yet!  "  The  fact  that  little  Hemie 
was  hundreds  of  miles  away  with  his 
Aunt  Elsa  in  New  York  made  no  differ- 

ence  at  all. 

And  Hans  knew,  too,  that  little  Mrs. 
Muller,  Spartan  and  sinewy  and  matter- 
of-fact  as  she  might  seem  to  be,  also  had 
her  hours  of  emotion  when  she  let  herself 
think  of  "leedle  Heinie."  Only  it  was 
she  who  looked  after  the  Miiller  treasury 
and  she  had  not  been  able  to  persuade 
herself  that  they  would  have  enough  in 
the  Bank  for  Savings  to  buy  that  farm 

until  the  fall Yet  the  tug  of  war 

between  "leedle  Heinie"  and  the  Big 
Show  v^as  at  times  a  desperate  one.  \nd 
when  "leedle  Heinie"  did  win,  if  Hans 

was  to  continue    supporting    his   great- 

102 


THE  BIG  TOP 


grandmother  he  would  be  left  altogether 
alone. 

They  had  stayed  three  days  in  Cleve- 
land. Then  had  come  that  week  of 
one-day  stands  in  the  hills  of  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania.  And  so  far  they  had  seen 
no  more  of  Fat  and  Cut  Nose.  The  pair 
had  almost  left  Red's  mind  when  one  day 
they  re-entered  it  with  a  rush.  On  Thurs- 
day of  that  week  Cut  Nose,  or  someone 
very  like  him,  was  seen  near  the  circus 
trains.  The  3ame  afternoon  the  main 
gasoline  plant  was  blown  up.  And  it 
wasn't  the  kind  of  explosion  that  could 
have  taken  place  by  accident. 

It  filled  Red  with  a  vicarious  guilt  that 
sent  him  in  a  humiliation  of  apology  to 
the  G.  M.  But  the  G.  M.  was  already 
drawing  on  the  resources  of  the  repair 
car,  in  which  car  were  to  be  found  the 
duplicate  parts  of  every  kind  of  big  and 
little  machine  made  use  of  by  the  Big 
Show.    It  was  only  a  matter  of  putting 

103 


REDNEY  McGAW 


another  gasoline  pbint  togetlior.  The  G. 
M.  had  already  got  the  show  housesmiths 
at  work  upon  it.  And,  save  that  he  had 
also  been  conferring  with  the  circus  de- 
tectives, he  appeared  to  regard  the  affair 
as  almost  in  the  natural  order  of  things. 

"  Why,  son,"  he  said,  "  because  we  hap- 
pen to  be  out  an  illuminating  plant,  surely 
that 's  no  reason  why  you  should  stop  illu- 
minating us  with  that  grin  of  yours." 

And,  despite  all  his  proper  feelings  in 
the  matter,  Red  began  to  "illuminate" 


again. 


Then  the  G.  M.  further  suggested  that 
if  they  caught  Cut  Nose  they  might  for- 
give him  and  offer  him  that  job  of  Hu- 
man Egg !  He  was  entirely  the  kind  of 
Great  Man  for  Red's  money ! 

But  grin  once  more  though  he  might 
Cut  Nose  and  Fat  were  on  his  conscience 
smartingly.  He  had  "belonged"  nearly 
two  weeks  now.  He  had  got  to  the 
stage  when  he  never  said  anything  but 

104 


THE  BIG  TOP 


"we" 


when  speaking  of  the  Big  Show. 
And  when  you  do  that  you  belong  in  very 

sooth. 

He  had  begun  by  feeling  at  home  only 
in  the  cook-tent.  By  the  end  of  that 
second  week  he  was  "  in  friends "  with 
about  everybody  on  the  lot.  But  if  you 
were  comparing  things  it  was  the  men- 
agerie tent  and  the  society  of  McNally 
and  Coakeney  that  kept  a  little  the  up- 
permost grip  with  him.  They  continued 
to  be  joUyers  all  right,  particularly  Coak- 
eney. But  often,  too,  perhaps  to  give 
their  imaginations  a  much-needed  rest, 
they  would  confine  themselves  entirely  to 
the  simple  facts. 

And  indeed  wuen  they  were  talking 
about  the  elephants,  which  with  Red 
still  held  a  supremacy  of  fascination,  they 
did  not  have  to  use  their  imaginations  at 
all.  Red  had  noticed  in  the  beginning 
that  the  keepers  spoke  to  the  great  beasts 
just  as  if  they  were  human  beings.  *'  Pali," 

105 


REDNEY  McGAW 


McNally  would  call  out,  "will  you  stop 
mussing  yourself  up  in  the  dust  like  that! 
anybody 'd  think  you  were  about  five 
years  '^Id !  "  And  Pali,  far  down  at  the 
end  of  that  swaying  gray  half  circle, 
would  be  justly  ashamed,  and  act  as  be- 
came her  years  for  the  next  two  hours. 

As  for  the  little  fellows,  they  were  al- 
ways trying  to  bunt  each  other  over  even 
when  on  exhibition,  —  just  as  bad  boys 
have  been  known  to  brace  their  feet  and 
shoot  each  other  off  a  bench  in  Sun- 
day School.  Of  course,  when  Coakeney 
dropped  dowm  on  them,  in  a  jiffy  they 
would  be  as  solemn  as  deacons  and  look 
around  wonderingly  to  see  who  had  been 
making  all  that  row.  But  a  moment 
later  they  would  be  stepping  on  each 
other's  toes,  and  giving  each  other  the 
hunch,  and  carrying  on  as  bad  as  ever. 
Then  when  their  call  came  to  line  up  for 
the  performing  tent  they  would  all  rush, 
pushing  and  elbowing,  to  be  first.     Meal- 


1 

lib 


THE  BIG  TOP 


time  was  another  trouble  hour.  Each  of 
those  small-boy  elephants  made  it  his 
business  above  all  other  things  whatso- 
ever to  see  that  nobody  else  got  his  place. 
And  if  by  chance  anybody  else  did  get  it 
there  would  be  a  frightful  riot!  To  Red 
it  was  for  all  the  world  like  supper-time 
at  the  "  Newsies'  "  Lodging  House. 

Now  and  again  McNally  would  teach 
him  a  word  or  two  of  "  elephant  talk." 
Thus  "  tutt "  is  "  stop."    "  Mail "  is  "  go 
quicker."    "  Tutt  cum  min  "  is  "  come  this 
way,"  or  "  come  back  to  me,"  and  so  on. 
Neither  spelling  nor  pronunciation  may 
be  the  best  of  Cingalese  or  Hindustani, 
but  they  sufficed  very  well  for  the  pur- 
pose.   McNally  desired  in  particular  to 
put  Red  upon  proper  speaking  terms  with 
Deva,  the  biggest  old  dame  of  them  all. 
He  used  to  ask  Red  how  she  compared  in 
education  with  that  elephant  he  used  to 
take  care  of  in  Bronx  Park.     For  more 
reasons  than  one  Red  was  compelled  to 

107 


EEDNEY  McGAW 


admit  that  there  could  be  no  comparison 
whatever  between  them. 

And  in  truth  Deva  sometimes  did  things 
which  she  could  hardly  have  been  told 
how  to  do  in  English  and  elephant  talk 
both  together.  One  day  of  rain  when  a 
six-ton  pole  wagon  stuck  in  a  mudhole, 
she  was  called  upon  to  get  it  out  again. 
At  first  she  merely  tried  the  shoving  power 
of  those  huge,  bulbous  brows  of  hers, 
but  that  only  drove  the  big  van  further 
in.  Then  she  meditated  a  moment,  turned 
and  brought  her  elephant  brain  to  the 
problem.  Curling  her  trunk  around  a 
wheel  she  both  pushed  and  lifted  at  the 
same  time.  And  that  pole  wagon  punted 
ahead  as  lightly  as  a  baby  carriage ! 


108 


rTBrr 


r'sr 


M^ 


I^^W 


■sm 


Km^^. 


CHAPTER  IX 

PLUTO 

Mrs.  M'lilhr  removes  a  lone  and  loses  her 
keys  ;  and,  while  it  may  he  had  form  to 
twist  a  lion's  tail,  it  may  on  the  other 
hand  sometimes  he  the  hest  of  wisdom  to 
twist  a  hlack  panther's. 

IT  was  Red's  familiarity  with  the  men 
agerie  staff  which  led  the  cook-tent 
boss  to  take  him  away  from  his  regular 
job  a  little  after  five  that  Saturday  and 
send  him  over  to  the  menagerie  boss  with 
a  note  informing  him  of  a  shortage  in  the 
supply  of  fresh  meat. 

Most  of  the  keepers  had  gone  out  to 
supper,  for  supper  is  a  very  early  meal 
when  a  circus  is  making  one-day  stands. 
But  the  menagerie  chief  was  sitting  in 
his  usual  place  beside  the  camels.  When 
he  had  taken  in  that  message  he  started 
for  the  man"  ^er's  office. 

1D9 


REDNEY  McGAW 


Red  bad  crossed  the  tent  again  to  re- 
turn to  his  brothers  of  the  dishwash 
squad  when  Mrs.  Midler  came  in.  She, 
too,  was  on  her  way  to  supper.  Red 
slowed  up  and  sent  her  back  an  admiring, 
almost  filial  crrin. 

She  returned  it  with  maternal  interest. 
But,  following  her  habit,  she  had  an  eye  on 
her  "peasts  "  in  the  big  red  cages  as  well. 
And  she  had  just  passed  the  cage 
of  Pluto,  the  black  panther,  when  she 
stopped,  turned,  and  looked  again. 

Her  face  darkened.  "  Somebody  haf 
left  a  bone  mit  him  once  more,  a  second 
time  yet  this  week!  " 

Red  came  closer  and  saw  that  one 
of  the  animal's  cheeks  was  "  podded  out " 
as  if  from  an  attack  of  toothache. 

"  In  the  Java  junkie  he  know  how  to 
get  it  out  alone  unhelped,"  said  Mrs.  Mai- 
ler, angrily,  " now  must  7  do  it!  " 
"  Can't  I  get  somebody  I  "  said  Red. 
A    green    young    elephart    man   had 

110 


11111 v.ims,- 


"sr&irim— »i"T»iB»^ 


PLUTO 

crossed  over.    But  he  did  not  volunteer 

to  help. 

Mrs.  Miiller  pulled  her  key  chain  from 
her  girdle  and  pushed  under  the  guard- 
rope.  She  mounted  the  steps  at  the  end 
of  the  cage,  snapped  open  the  door,  and 
-entered.    Walking  quickly  down  to  the 

southing  beast  she  rolled  its  head  under 
her  arm,  thrust  two  fingers  in  behind  the 
long,  spiky  canines  to  keep  the  jaws  open, 
and  with  a  sudden  jerk  had  that  knuckle 
of  beef  in  the  sawdust. 

According  to  the  story-books  the  animal 
should  at  once  have  been  filled  with  grat- 
itude, but  he  was  anything  but  that.  He 
growled  deeply  and  backed  to  the  other 
end  of  his  den.  He  stopped  directly  in 
front  of  the  door,  n  fact,  and  his  brist- 
ling lips  drew  up  with  a  vicious,  grating 
['uttural. 

Mrs.  Midler  had  gone  in  angry.  And 
anger  continued  to  be  her  principal  emo- 
tion.   "  I  should  my  whip  haf  had !  "  she 

111 


j-gTi!iMjiiiy,iii  £iap^ssi^sKraFiiimfas^ 


REDNEY  McGAW 


H 


exclaimed.      'Raus  mit  you!"  and  she 
started  down  the  cage. 

Obviously  she  expected  the  animal  to 
change  ends  with  her  again.  But  he  did 
not.  Indeed,  he  only  drew  in  his  head, 
and  his  ears  flattened  back  so  that  you 
could  no  longer  see  them. 

"P/Mio.^" 

''  Ba-r-r-r-h  ! '' 

Red  felt  a  want  to  cry  out.  But  that 
might  only  m^ake  the  beast  worse.  He 
looked  nervously  at  the  young  elephant 
man  and  he  saw  that  he  had  begun  to 
grow  pale,  too.  **  Wait  till  I  go  and  get 
the  boss,"  he  said,  and  his  voice  had  a 
sort  of  shake  in  it. 

Mrs.  Midler  had  also  gi'own  a  trifle 
pale.  But  there  was  no  shake  about  her. 
"  Ah-h,  1  fix  him  mineself !  "  she  said; 
"  great  scoondrel !     Raus  !    Quickly !  " 

She  advanced  upon  him  again.  A  ser- 
pent-like agitation  began  to  run  up  and 
down  that  soft  coal-like  body.   The  beast's 

112 


li 


PLUTO 


eyes  became  luminous,  emerald  flames. 
M-:s.  Miiller  took  another  step  forward, 
and  his  neck  fur  ruffed  up.  He  hunched 
back,  more  and  more,  lifting  both  front 
paws  together  almost  like  a  boxer. — 
"  Ha-r-r-r-h  !     Ha-r-r-r-h  !  " 

And  then  suddenly  Mrs.  MuUer  drew 
in  on  herself.  She  had  seen  that  which 
no  one  outside  could  see.  Next  moment 
the  brute  had  sprung. 

He  had  sprung.  But  Mrs.  Midler  met 
his  leap  with  a  lightning-like  response  of 
her  own.  With  the  quicksilver  swiftness 
of  the  trained  gymnast  she  ducked  al- 
most to  the  fioor,  whipped  aside,  and,  like 
a  bird  shooting  from  cover  to  cover,  took 
the  door  end  of  the  cage. 

Ked  and  the  keeper  yelled  again  and 
again. 

But,  now  that  Mrs.  Miiller  was  at  that 
cage  door,  why,  with  all   her  sleight-of- 
hand  quickness,  why  did  she  not  open 
and  let  herself  backward  into  safety  I 
8  113 


ni*'-**«^*ai; 


REDNEY  McGAW 


There  was  reason  enough.  "  Ach,  mine 
keys,  mine  keys  !  "  she  cried.  The  bunch 
lay  under  the  animal's  feet.  The  tight 
chain  must  have  been  snapped  by  one  of 
those  combingly  outspread  claws.  And 
only  then  did   Mrs.  Miiller's    face  really 

blanch. 
At  that  moment,  too,  the  beast  sprang 

a  second  time. 

A  second  time  the  little  woman  dropped, 
and  flyingly  changed  ends  with  him.  But 
a  strip  had  been  torn  from  the  shoulder 
of  her  braided  jacket,  and  the  blood  be- 
gan to  trickle —  "  yl&^r,  he  haf  not  hurt 
me,"  she  breathed,  pantingly. 

For  an  instant  her  eyes  took  them- 
selves from  the  panther's  and  feverishly 
swept  the  floor  around  her.  —  "  Ach-chf  " 

They  could  feel  how  much  of  her  cour- 
age went  out  of  her  in  that  instant.  The 
leap  of  the  brute  had  carried  that  bunch 
of  keys  half-way  down  the  cage !  Even 
if  for  a  third  time  she  should  succeed  in 

114 


-.T?^-  -'.  rti.    'J V,  ■ 


■^^^ 


PLUTO 


i 


i 


making  that  horrible  change  of  ends  with 
him,  the  door  would  still  be  shut  to  her. 
"  Ach,  du  lieber  Gott !  "  she  choked.  And 
then,  lifting  up  her  voice  in  a  cry  which 
seemed  as  if  it  must  carry  over  all  the 
twenty  acres  of  that  many-tented  lot: 

''Heinie!  Heinie!  Heinie! '' — 

There  were  keepers  and  circu  hands 
enough  rushin??  up  by  now,  but  none  of 
them  seemed  to  be  the  people  needed. 

"  Where 's  ConlinI  Where 's  Menzel?" 
they  shouted. 

"Our  keys  don't  fit!  " 

"  Get  the  old  man  !  " 

The  other  animals,  with  some  strange, 
frightful  instinct  for  what  was  taking 
place,  began  one  after  the  other  to  give 
tongue.  The  tw^o  striped  hyenas  ran  to 
and  fro  barking  horridly,  the  wolves  and 
leopards  took  it  up,  and  the  jackals 
howled  and  yapped. 

Somebody  pushed  through  the  crowd 
with    a    long    syringe.      "They're   just 

115 


REDNEY  McGAW 


bringin'  tlie  ammonia,  Missis,"  he  panted; 
*•  that  '11  quiet  him !  " 

In  his  last  spring  the  great  black  cat  had 
struck  the  bars  with  such  momentum  that 
for  the  moment  it  had  left  him  stunned. 
But  again  he  was  beginning  to  recover. 

"And  der  bloot!  "  cried  Mrs.  Miiller, 
convulsively,  as  her  eyes  caught  the  red 
drip  about  her  feet,  "he  smells  der 
bloot!  Dey  all  smell  \i\  —  Heinie  ! — 
Heinie!  — Heinle  !  " 

Every  lion  in  the  big  tent  was  roaring 
now.  Mogul,  the  royal  Bengal  tiger, 
flung  himself  from  end  to  end  of  his 
cage,  battering  himself  into  that  awful 
blood  madness.  The  leopards  that  had 
once  been  so  tame  were  tame  no  longer. 
The  elephants  swayed  back  and  forth, 
waving  their  trunks  with  wild  blares  and 
trumpetings.  As  for  the  black  panther 
himself,  once  more  the  green  lights  were 
blazing  in  his  eyes  like  burning  alcohol. 
Once  more  his  whole  body  was  becoming 

116 


PLUTO 


3 

3 
■J 

i 


^» 


one  pulsation  of  fury,  — his  rage  more 
benumbing,  more  terrifying  than  it  had 

been  before! 

'•The  ammonia !— Bring  the  ammo- 
nia !  "  yelled  the  man  with  the  syringe 

again. 
And  a  dry-mouthed   answer  came,— 

"  The  bottle's  empty!  " 

Red  ran  about  in  a  frenzy.  "  Well,  — 
^liy  —  why  can't  youse  do  somethin' 
else  theni     Ain't  — ain't  nobody  got  a 

gunf 
"The  boss  has  — but  where 's  he  got 

to'" 
"  I  seen  him  over  near  the  cook-tent  !  " 

At  that  moment,  plunging  through  the 
heave  of  the  crowd.  Big  Heinie  arrived. 
And  the  huge  man  was  not  stolid  nor 
tranquil  now.  His  wide  blue  eyes  pro- 
truded staringly,  and  he  caught  at  those 
cage  bars  as  if  he  were  another  man  of 
Gaza  in  the  temple  of  the  Philistines. 

"Ach,  it  iss  you,"  cried  Mrs.  MuUer; 

117 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"  Ach,  wass  will  you  und  leedle  Heinle 
do  mitout  me  I  " 

It  took  a  dozen  keepers  to  get  him 
bf.  '-  again.  —  "  You  can't  do  nothin'  that 
wa^!  — Here's  a  pole!— We  can  poke 
the  keys  down  to  her." 

They  did  so,  and  the  little  woman 
gathered  herself  together  and  caught 
them  up.  But  barely  had  she  recovered 
her  balance  when  a  third  time  the  foam- 
slavered  monster  launched  himself. 

And  a  third  time,  by  desperate  swift- 
ness, she  avoided  him. 

Had  that  cage  afforded  him  space 
enough  to  leap  as  he  would  have  leaped 
in  the  glooms  of  the  tropic  forest,  Mrs. 
Muller  w^ould  never  have  escaped  his  first 
oncoming.  Now,  almost  as  certainly,  she 
would  never  escape  another. 

As  if  to  double  the  odds  against  her,  too, 
the  sight  of  her  man,  instead  of  bringing 
back  her  nerve,  seemed  to  have  lost  it  for 
her  altogether.    She  had  her  keys  but 

118 


..■^v.«;'i'. 


■ffWMl 


^BIP 


PLUTO 


she  did  not  appear  to  bo  able  to  use  them ! 
As  if  she  could  not  distinguish  one  from 
another,  she  was  thrusting  them  against 
the  lock  behind  her  in  a  sickness  of  haste 
that  cruelly,  defeated  itself.  Second  after 
second  went  by.  The  beast  was  to  be 
given  time  to  spring  again.  And  when 
he  did — ! 

Then  the  crowd  became  conscious  of  a 
diversion  from  the  flank.  Mr.  Redney 
McGaw,  probably  having  very  little  idea 
of  what  he  was  doing  or  why  he  did  it, 
had  rolled  under  the  rope  and  thrown 
himself  at  the  further  corner  of  the  cage, 
where  for  a  moment  that  writhing  black 
tail  had  thrust  itself  through  the  bars.  — 
And  he  was  now  giving  it  good  cause  to 
writhe.  Using  both  hands  he  began  to 
buckle  and  bend  it  together. 

At  first,  in  his  fury  of  excitement,  the 
groat  cat  did  not  seem  to  know  what 
was  hurting  him.  Screaming  out,  he  stif- 
fened like  a  mass  of  steel   springs  for 

119 


REDNEY  McGAW 


another  leap.     But  by  that  time  lied  had 
got  his  foot  braced  against  the  axle  and 
could  give  all  his  strength  to  it.     Half  a 
dozen  others  had   rushed  to  help  him, 
too.    Yet  it  was  Red  alone  that  finished 
the  job,  even  as  he  had  begim  it.     The 
beast  humped  up  snarling  and  clawhig, 
ripping  slivers  from  the  bottom  of  his 
cage  in  his  efforts  to  turn  around;  he 
might  have  been  a  common  house  cat 
with  his  tail  caught   in   a  door.      And 
almost  throwing  Red  under  the  wagon 
he  jerked  free  at  last. 

But,  one  instant  before,  Mrs.  Miiller's 
fingers  had  found  the  key  they  sought. 
And  as  the  gate  clashed  into  place  be- 
hind her,  she  dropped  into  her  big  man's 
shaking  arms. 


120 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   HERO 

How  it  feels  to  he  a  hero;  lack  of  true 
apprpciation  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Miille.^; 
Amzi  Jimsoy  id  tivo  reserved  seats; 
pmdiar  effe^  *  j  neroism  upon  the  imag- 
ination. 

DURING  the  next  two  hours  Red  ex- 
perienced all  the  intoxication  of 
being  a  hero.  The  G.  M.  did  not  say  much. 
But  he  squeezed  Red's  shoulder,  and  told 
him  he  guessed  the  Show  would  have  to 
stand  him  a  uniform,  —  something  that 
would  go  on  the  band-wagon,  —  for  that 
day's  work! 

McNally  and  Coakeney  sent  out  for 
ginger  ale,  just  as  Red  himself  had  done 
that  first  afternoon  in  Buffalo.  And  they 
insisted  that  Deva  and  the  four  trick  ele- 
phants should  drink  his  health  as  well. 

121 


REDNEY  McGAW 


I 


By  this  time  Big  Heinie  was  back 
again.  And  he  would  have  been  back 
long  before  but  for  the  best  of  reasons. 
He  wanted  money,  barrels  of  money, 
whole  pay-wagons  full  of  it !  And,  unfor- 
tunately for  him,  it  was  Mrs.  Miiller's 
custom  to  take  their  combined  salaries 
and  bank  them  through  the  show  treasurer 
again,  on  the  day  when  they  were  drawn. 
But  circus  people  are  the  most  prodigally 
generous  on  earth.  Big  Heinie  could 
borrow.    And  he  had  the  money  now! 

At  least  he  felt  he  had  enough  to  start 
with.  He  plowed  an  enraptured  way 
through  to  Red.  He  whispered  to  him 
with  a  basso  profundo  mysteriousness 
that  was  audible  for  twenty  feet  around. 
And  then,  every  other  minute  giving  him 
a  slap  meant  to  be  a  love  tap  but  which 
almost  took  Red  off  his  feet,  he  drew  him 
into  cover  behind  the  hippopotamus  cage, 
and  began  to  bestow  wealth  upon  him  by 
the  double  handful ! 

122 


THE  HERO 


Impossible  for  Red  to  accept  it,  — to 
dream  of  accepting  it!  He  had  been 
called  a  hero.  He  had  for  some  time  felt 
like  a  king  or  an  emperor.  And  to  have 
compounded  in  base  silver  and  bills  would 
have  been  to  descend  from  that  starry- 
high  estate.  He  kept  telling  Big  Heinie 
"just  not  to  mention  it,"  and,  "heh,  it 
wasn't  nothin'  at  all."  And  as  soon  as 
he  could  free  himself,  he  confided  both 
pocketfuls  to  Elephants  to  return  for  him 
"after  a  while,"  — "or  maybe,  now,  it 
would  be  better  to  get  the  G.  M.  to  do 

it." 

But  Big  Heinie,  beaming  and  clucking 
and  slapping  mightily  out  at  everyone 
he  knew,  had  only  gone  hasting  forth  to 
borrow  and  return  with  more. 

And  he  was  repeating  that  lavish  per- 
formance yet  a  third  time  when  Mrs. 
Miiller  made  her  appearance. 

Mrs.  Miiller,  for  her  part,  was  rapidly 
becoming  her  Spartan  self  again.     She 

123 


li 


W 


REDNEY  McGAW 


I 


i  ■ 


had  been  excused  from  "work"  for  the 
remainder  of  the  day.  But  if  need  had 
been  she  could  probably  have  gone 
through  with  it.  She  did  shed  some 
very  motherly  tears  when  she  spoke  to 
Red  of  what  he  had  done  for  "leedle 
Heinie."  But  after  that  she  pulled  her- 
self together  and  became  entirely  direct 
and  businesslike.  When  McNally  asked 
her,  "  What  about  that  ton  or  so  of  coin 
he'd  been  loaded  up  with  I  "  she  gave 
Red  a  ten-dollar  gold  piece  from  it,  and 
answered  Elephants  that  he  might  give 
the  rest  o^  it  back  to  her :  for  one  thing, 
she  was  going  to  use  part  of  it  that 
afternoon. 

And  then,  as  if  in  explanation  of  that, 
she  got  Red  a  half  holiday  and  carried 
him  off  downtown  with  her. 


She  informed  him  briefly  that  there 
were  many  things  that  would  be  of 
much    more    use    to  him  than    money. 

124 


THE  HERO 


She  proceeded  to  illustrate  that,  first  by- 
buying  him  a  good,  strong,  man-sized 
suit-case, — and  tbn  socks,  underwear, 
handkerchiefs,  and  linen  enough  to  fill 
it  to  bulging.  And  finally  she  gave  him 
peremptory  orders  that,  for  the  remainder 
of  the  seas  du,  he  was  every  week  to  bring 
her  all  his  mending  and  laundry. 

"  For  dot  suit-case  iss  for  gl(3an  dings 
only,"  she  admonished;  "  if  once  you 
put  back  into  it  dings  dot  are  dorn  or 
dirty,  you  will  haf  some  actions  mit  me 
alretty!" 

Coming  from  a  lady  whose  life  he  had 
just  saved,  it  was  not  precisely  the  sort 
of  language  that  Red  had  expected  to 
hear. 

But  if  ever  you  have  been  a  hero 
yourself  you  will  know  that  it  takes  a 
great  deal  more  than  that  to  quench 
you. 

Besides,  there  were  enough  other  people 
who  had  the  appreciative  attitude.     And 

125 


) 


.1. 


REDNEY  McGAW 


they  were  only  waiting  for  Red  to  get 
back  to  the  lot  to  show  it.  He  received 
the  hoo-roo'ing  congratulations  of  all  the 
Reds  and  Blues  together!  The  cook-tent 
chief,  and  the  horse-tent  boss,  and  the 
boss  canvas-man,  and  the  loading  boss, 
and  the  costume  man,  —  all  in  turn  said 
their  beatifying  words  to  him. 

Small  Hans,  still  tremulous,  came  up 
and  wished  him  to  know  that  he  would 
have  joined  in  and  helped  him  with  that 
panther's  taJ,  — "only  there  wass  rea- 
sons why  he  must  effer  and  always  alife 
remain!  " 

But,  by  now,  wherever  it  came  from, 
Red  could  not  but  have  certain  doubts 
about  other  people's  bravery,  —  about 
Hans',  for  example,  —  that  is,  at  least, 
as  compared  with  his  own.  In  fact,  he 
questioned  if  there  was  really  anyone  else 
in  the  Show  who  had  just  the  exact  kind 
o^  nerve  for  black  panthers.  He  was  no 
longer  even  able  to  bestow  so  much  ad- 

126 


THE  HERO 


miration  upon  Elephants'  prowess  with 
a  tent  stake.  Very  likely  he  'd  have  done 
the  trick  just  as  well  himself. 

And  to  exalt  him  altogether  into  the 
clouds,  Togo  and  Nogo  were  looking  for 
him  to  take  his  honorable  picture.  They 
desired  moreover  to  take  his  honorable 
picture  in  the  front  of  that  honorable 
black  panther's  cage.  For,  with  their 
national  fervor  for  all  deeds  of  derring- 
do,  they  insisted  upon  believing  that  the 
rescue  had  not  taken  place  from  outside 
the  cage,  but  that  Red  had  bearded  the 
foaming  Pluto  in  his  very  den ! 

And,  however  astonishing  it  may  ap- 
pear, by  this  time  Red  had  gone  a  long 
way  towards  taking  that  view  of  it 
himself ! 

He  soon  discovered  that  his  left  hand 
was  slightly  sprained,  and  he  borrowed  a 
handkerchief  from  McNally  with  which 
to  bind  it  up.  He  expressed  the  very 
thoughtful  hope,  too,  that  he  had  n't  hurt 

127 


REDNEY  McGAW 


Pluto  much.  And  then  he  went  to  the 
head  office  and  requested  the  loan  of  a 
little  paper  "to  do  some  correspondin'." 

It  was  to  Spider  Madigan  that  he  wrote. 
And  even  now  he  did  not  tell  him  that  he 
was  "  with  the  Show."  That  was  a  stag- 
gerer he  was  going  to  keep  till  the  very 
day  they  entered  Dubuque.  But  he  did 
ask  Spider  "  if  he  'd  had  any  trouble  with 
mountain  lions  out  West.  He  'd  had  a 
good  deal  just  lately  with  a  black  panther 
himself,— that's  what  had  made  him 
think  of  it." 

After  which  another  idea  struck  him, 
and  he  sought  the  circus  peatman  ;—**  It 
was  likely  a  lot  of  the  newspapers  would 
be  comin'  after  him,"  he  explained ;  "  and 
he  thought  it'd  be  just  as  well  to  give 
him  notice  ahead."  And  when  the 
crowds  had  begun  to  arrive  for  the 
evening  performance  he  went  and  stood 
near  the  main  entrance.  It  had  occurred 
to  him  that  the  show  bosses  would  be 

128 


THE  HERO 


wanting  to  point  him  out  to  people.  And 
it  would  be  handier  for  them  if  he  could 
be  somewhere  near. 

But  the  show  bosses  had  now  become 
^  o  busy  again  to  point  out  anybody. 
Nor  did  any  reporters  come  after  him  at 
all,  —  that  town  being  plainly  one  of 
"yaps"  and  "dead  ones." 

He  was  compelled,  accordingly,  to  ex- 
pand in  another  direction. 

Standing  longingly  near  the  ticket- 
wagon  was  a  thin,  big-headed  little  boy 
wearing  what  must  have  been  the  rag- 
gedest  clothes  in  Pennsylvania.  And  as 
to  the  meaning  of  his  expression  there 
could  be  no  possible  doubt  whatever. 

Red  walked  over  to  him.  "  Heh,  ain't 
you  got  the  price?  " 

"  Got  the  price !  —  I  ain't  got  nawthin' .'" 

"Heh,  that's  too  bad.    But  I  c'n  re- 
member now  when  I  used  to  be  like  that 
myself.    Say,  guess  you  're  wantin'  to  go 
in  pretty  fierce,  ain't  youf  " 
9  129 


REDNEY  McGAW 


! 


I 


"Am  I  wantin'  to  go  in!  —But  whose 
a-goin'  to  take  me*?  " 

"  Ah,  1  dunno.  What '  s  the  matter  with 
mef  I  don't  guess  they'll  be  needin' 
me  right  away.^' 

The  little  boy  with  the  big  head  gaped. 
"  Say,  d'  yuh  —  d'  yuh  mean  that  you  le- 
long  to  the  circus!  " 

*'  Do  I  belong!  Do  I  belong!  Well,  I 
guess  you'd  find  out  if  you  was  to  ask 
anybody!  But  you  just  folly  along  with 


me." 

He  began  to  lead  the  way  down  the 
long  line  of  guy-ropes  to  the  performers' 
entrance.  "  No  use  our  gettin'  mixed  up 
with  the  crotvd,''  he  said. 

The  gateman  knew  him  and  waved 
them  in  with  a  friendly  wink.  Red  went 
on  past  the  band,  ignored  the  cheap,  blue- 
slat  seats,  nodded  casually  to  the  ring  at- 
tendants, and  showed  his  guest  into  the 
front  row  of  the  "  reserveds."  The  ushers 
looked  at  him  a  little  wonderingly.     But 

130 


■m 


n^AM 


THE  HERO 


\ 


he  "  belonged  "  —  there  was  no  disputing 
that  —  and  they  said  nothing. 

"  Gee  whillikins!  "  murmured  the  little 
boy;  "well,  I  guess  you're  on  the  inside 
ferfair!" 

"  Oh,  I  guess  I  'm  solid  enough.  Maybe 
you  better  tell  me  your  name.  I  might 
have  to  be  interducin'  youse." 

"  Swazey  —  Amzi  Jimson  Swazey.  — 
Say,  /  wouldn't  like  to  be  youse  or 
anything!  " 

"Ah,  I  dunno.  Lots  o'  things  looks 
swell  from  the  outside.  But  when 
you're  in  it,  maybe  they  ain't  as  dead 
easy." 

The  performance  was  commencing 
with  the  "Orand  Pageant  and  Progress 
of  All  Nations."  But  Amzi  Jimson  found 
it  difficult  to  keep  his  attention  upon  it. 
There  are  things  even  more  fascinating 
than  the  Queen  of  Sheba  on  a  Royal 
Two-humped  Bactrian,  and  Solomon 
riding   beside   her   in    all   his   glory.  — 

131 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"What  — what   is    it  you   do!"    asked 
Amzi  Jimsou  with  a  kind  of  awe. 

"Heh!  Ask  me  what  I  don't  do!  I  got 
so  many  stunts  to  keep  a-goin  just  now, 
seems  I'^^e  1  never    c'n  keep  track   of 

them!" 

The  seven  Saxon  Samsons  came  leap- 
ing and  vaulting  into  the     :  arest  ring 
and  prepared  to  form  thf  iselves  into 
"The    Christmas    Tree."     Ludwig    and 
Gustav  and  Franz,  all  in  those  glittering 
tights  of  spangled  silver  and  robin's-egg 
blue,  vaulted  to  the  spreading  shoulders 
'^f   Big    Heinie.    Upon    their    shoulders 
again  there  swung  themselves  the  two 
younger  "  brothers."     Then  Midget  Hans 
was  twitched  up  and  up  and  up  to  the 
Tree's    very    pinnacle.    And    when    as 
its  trunk    Big   Heinie   turned    himself 
mightily  and  began  his  rolling  "march 
around,"  the  whole  deified  seven  caught 
sight  of  Red  and  smiled  at  him  together. 
Amzi  Jimson  nearly  fainted. 

132 


HI 


THE  HERO 


"  I  used  to  see  quite  consider' ble  of  them 
lads  while  I  was  doiii'  clowniu'  work," 
imparted  Red,  "but  I  dou't  get  time 
for  that  any  more." 

The  four  trick  elephants  came  in  for 
their  act  with  McNally  walking  beside 
them  in  the  gorgeous  uniform  of  an  Im- 
perial Indian  Jemadar.  In  his  turn  his 
glance  fell  upon  Mr.  McGaw,  and  he 
screwed  him  an  eye  of  brotherly  recog- 
nition as  he  passed. 

"  Heh,  maybe  you  noticed  that  lad?" 
asked  Red. 

Amzi  Jimson  harJ  noticed  him. 

"Well,  him  and  me  works  together 
quite  a  lot.  O'  course  them  little  Ae- 
phants  out  there  ain't  so  hard  to  handle, 
once  you  get  the  classy  hoir  of  it.  But, 
heh,  we  got  six  or  seven  big  wild  ones 
back  there  in  the  menagerie  that  gives 
us  a  run  for  it  now  an '  again ! ' ' 

"Yuh  mean  you  —  you  —  help  —  tame 
them?  " 

133 


lili 


"Heip  tii.iie  them!  — if  it  was  only 
tamin'  them  '    -But  when  youse  got  to 
keep    learnin     them   stunts  as  well  —  ! 
J  aybe  you  didn't  hear  about  one  of  us 
bavk  in  Cleveland  gettiu'  pitched  clear 
through   the  tent?  — Heh,  it  kept  them 
just  all  their  time  sewin'  the  canvas  up 
again  so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  next  per- 
formance !  " 

The  whole  three  rings  might    lOW  bt 
running  at  once.    The  air  might  be  b> 
dartingly  full  of  high-trapeze  arusts  as  an 
aviary  is  full  of  birds.     But  Amzi  Jimson 
had  no  thoughts  to  .vaste  on  theui    t  all. 

"Still,  elephant     ain't  so  ba<l,    low, 
continued  the  her<    ufte-  a  little   hout^ht 
"I've  always  sort     f  liked  ta  lu      thm 
It  fe  what  us  chans  call  the    dg 
the  lions  an'  tai^eis  an'  1<  »par(. 
kinu  o'   thing,—  iiat  b-thers  u 
Heh,  —  I   guess      ous*      aii   UA\  U 
the  smell  of  my     ands. 

1S4 


t 


THE  HERO 


H  pu  «rie  them  U|  m  from  of 
A.mz!  Jiiiirtou's  se.  And  "he  latter  did 
smell  something ! 

"W^ai,  that's  the  smoll  the  lack 
panther  has.  It 's  sort  of  an  oil  ;  nin«1or 
their  skins.  One  of  V  .u  got  in' 
worse  *n  usyal  >day  a.  had  to  sold 
him  wiiile  our  chief  i  Jy  utm      — Madam 


Fosaliuda,  y'    know 

s     ak  for  it." 
This  was  aliiiost 
And  Mr.  IMcfa 

upon   his  couii 


at 

1, 


\ras       akin'  her 

au  I  Amzi  J. 
inarketi  that  doubt 
As  it  chanced, 
the  nearest  ishe^  'ad  until  lately  been 
one  of  hi.  x'^llo,v  of  the  "dish- wash 
squad."  Red  >ef'-oned  him  over.  "Say," 
he  said,  easi  «!  young  guy  thinks 

I'm    stringi  .    about    that    black 

panther. 

"  Well,  he  need  n't  now,  old  boy.  For 
that  was  where  you  got  in  some  of  the 
strongest  vork  ever  done  in  the  Show!  " 
(A  moment      ler,  had  Mr.  AIcGaw  not 

135 


REDNEY  McGAW 


been  drinking  final  satisfaction  from 
Amzi  J.'s  expression  then,  he  might  have 
noticed  that  that  usher  was  touching 
his  hat  to  someone  sitting  just  behind 

them.) 

As  it  was,  "Lessee,"  he  said  and  puz- 
zled up  his  brows  anew,  — "It  must  of 
been  this  momin'  that  that  black  pan- 
ther business  happened.  Or,  no,  now, 
it  was  this  afternoon.  Heh,  pretty  hard 
to  remember  ei'eri/thing." 

If  it  was  no  longer  possible  for  Amzi 
Jimson  to  doubt,  of  marvels  he  felt  he 
could  positively  contain  no  more. 

But, "  What  —  what  else  is  it  yuh  dol  " 
he  asked  despite  himself. 

"  Ah,  not  so  much.  On'y  a  little  de- 
tectif  work  once  in  a  while.  See  that 
bandage  on  my  wrist!  Well,  heh,  I  bet 
I  '11  remember  that  for  quite  some  time! 
We  had  a  couple  of  toughs  try  to  do  up 
the  Show  with  guns  an'  knives  in  Buff'lo, 
an'  I  just  happened  to  bo  comin'  along. 

136 


THE  HERO 


I  was  off  on  relief  just  then.  But  I 
could  see  that  if  I  didn't  get  into  it, 
somebody  was  goin'  to  be  laid  out  cold. 
There  was  a  tent-stake  wagon  near,  an' 
while  it  was  takin'  a  chance,  o'  course  ~  " 

Another  usher  had  come  down  the 
track.  And  he,  too,  saluted  the  person 
sitting  just  behind  Red  and  Amzi 
Jimson. 

With  a  feeling  of  sudden,  vague  por- 
tent Red  decided  to  turn  around  and  see 
who  it  was. 

It  was  the  G.  M. ! 


137 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  TRESTIiE 

When  is  a  hero  not  a  herof  A  profound  hut 
uncalled-for  observation  from  "Irish'' 
Gannon  of  the  guanacos ;  after  resolving 
to  ridi  to  the  next  lot  in  the  forty-horse 
hand  wagon,  Bed  stops  hy  the  way  to 
pick  some  .aspherries. 

THE  G.  M.  did  not  say  anything. 
He  continued  to  look  quietly  out 
over  the  arena,  even  as  if  he  wanted  Red 
to  think  he  had  not  heard.  And  a  few 
minutes  after  he  rose  and  walked  down 
to  the  ring-master's  box. 

But  in  those  moments  Red  became  con- 
scious of  emotions  he  had  never  known 
before.  Shame  entered  into  his  world, 
and  abasement,  and  a  depth  of  self- 
contempt  not  to  be  expressed  by  speech! 

138 


THE  TRESTLE 


"Gee,"  he  said  in  his  heart,  "I  ain't  a 
cheap  bluff  or  anything!  " 

And  then,  not  to  be  explained,  and 
still  less  to  be  resisted,  came  the  need, 
the  compulsion  of  doing  penance. 

"Heh,"  he  again  attempted  to  argue 
it,  "I  guess  what  I  said  didn't  hurt  no- 
body! "  (And  a  great  deal  might  be  said 
in  support  of  that,  too.  Only  that  was 
not  the  point.) 

"An',  skids,  some  people  are  so  dead 
easy  that  you  can't  help  stringin'  them!  " 
(Another  great  truth.  But  unhappily 
another  likewise  that  seemed  after  all, 
to  help  him  little.) 

It  was  no  use  dodging.  He  could  see 
himself  he  would  have  to  come  to  it.  He 
sat  swallowing  a  green  bitterness  through 
the  "  Aerial  Ladder"  act.  And  then  he 
got  it  out  at  last,  —  "  Heh,  —  say,  —  Sf»y, 
cully,  o'  course  you  kuow  I  was  only 
kiddin'  you  about  that  detectif  biz  i  " 

Amzi  Jimson   turned    that   big   head 

139 


f?a 


REDNEY  McGAW 


of  his  around    and  stared,  —  ''  Kiddin' 
mer' 

"Why,  sure!" 

"Kiddin'f' 

"That's  what  I  said." 

"  And  was  that  kiddin',  too,  about  your 
tamin'  the  wild  elephants!  " 

"That's  what!  "  It  was  a  dose  that 
was  worse  than  castor-oil  and  quinine 
mixed  up  together.  Yet  at  the  same 
time  he  seemed  to  get  a  kind  of  pleasure 
from  it.  "I  bet  this '11  learn  me,  all 
right!"  he  told  himself. 

''Kiddin'!  kiddin'!''  For  a  while 
Amzi  was  bereft  of  language.  He  was  so 
gagged  by  disenchantment  that  he  wanted 
to  throw  a  brick  or  something. 

"  And  about  that  keeper  gettin'  pitched 
through  the  tent!  Was  you  fakin'  me 
there,  too?" 

"That's  what!" 

"  Well,  but  what  —  what  did  yuh  want 
to  go  tellin'  it  all  fori" 

140 


THE  TRESTLE 


"  Heh,  I  dunno.  I  guess  because  that 's 
the  kind  of  fellah  I  am.  Oust  I  get  a 
goin',  —  tckck!^^ 

"And  all  that  about  youse  savin'  the 
lady  tamer  from  the  black  panther,  that 
was  only  kiddin',  tool  " 

"  No,  on  the  dead,  that  was  n't.  Only  o' 
course  I  didn't  save  her  such  a  whole  lot^ 

"Ah,  I  believe  yuh!  " 

And,  for  his  part,  by  now  Red  did  not 
care  whether  he  had  saved  her  at  all  or 
not.  There  was  no  pleasure  in  it  for  him 
any  more.  He  got  to  his  feet:  "Well, 
I  guess  I  '11  have  to  be  leavin'  you.  It 's 
time  I  was  maKin'  for  the  cars.  Youse 
can  see  the  rest  of  it  alone." 

The  menagerie  tent  was  already  down. 
When  a  night  move  is  to  be  made  it 
doesn't  wait  till  the  perforr  ance  in  the 
big  top  is  over.  And  the  animal  cages 
were  now  on  their  way  to  the  trains. 
Red  followed  them,  taking  the  dark  side 
of  the  road. 

141 


REDNEY  McGAW 


But,  in  spite  of  this  precaution,  he 
stumbled  in  with  old  "Irish"  Gannon 
and  his  guanacos.  And  something  had 
happened  in  Irish's  demesne  that  had 
left  him  talking  to  himself  with  sheer 
delight.  A  dirty  loafer  had  spat  tobacco 
juice  upon  his  favorite  animal,  and  it 
had  promptly  returned  the  favor  in  kind. 
Indeed,  spitting  is  one  of  the  guanaco's 
peculiar  means  of  defense.  And  it  spits 
a  sort  of  inorganic  blue  vitriol  which 
keeps  its  sting  for  days.  Irish  felt  that 
all  was  right  in  his  universe! 

"  I  tell  yez,  now,  Smiler,"  he  cackled ; 
"  take  it  short  an'  take  it  long,  in  the  ind 
people  git  what 's  comin'  to  thira !  " 

Red  felt  that  he  had  cause  enough  to 
know  it. 


At  the  trains,  in  the  center  of  a  cluster 
of  eddying  gasoline  flares,  stood  a  group 
of  excited  loaders  and  bosses.  It  will 
be  remembered  how  extensive  a  role  in 

142 


■  I 


THE  TRESTLE 


The  Big  Show's  kitchen  is  played  by  the 
steam-boiler.  Well,  that  steam-boiler, 
while  standing  waiting  its  turn  for  the 
cars,  had  had  a  "blow  out."  There  was 
every  evidence  that  some  explosive  had 
been  used,  and  a  very  general  belief  as  to 
who  had  used  it.  It  seemed  entirely  prob- 
able that  Fat  and  Cut  Nose  were  still  fol- 
lowing up  the  Show,  and  getting  even, 
step  by  step,  as  they  had  said  they  would ! 

"  I  should  'a'  sent  them  to  the  G.  M., 
anyway,"  Red  heard  McNally  saying 
regretfully  ;  "  for  if  it  was  them,  it  looks 
as  if  they  'd  set  out  to  sting  an'  keep  on 
stingin'  till  they  get  stung  themselves. 
That  kind  never  knows  when  they've 
got  enough." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  menagerie  boss,  "  and, 
what  with  excursions  and  specials  and 
every  burg  overflowed  with  strangers,  we 
kick  up  such  a  side-wash  that  half  a 
hundred  yeggs  could  trail  with  us,  an' 
run  just  about  no  risks  at  it." 

143 


REDNEY  McGAW 


i^ 


It  was  a  matter  upon  which,  two  hou  a 
ago,  Red  would  have  felt  the  necessity 
of  assuming  a  general  advisership  at 
once.    But  noiv  — 

Now  he  stayed  in  outer  darkness  lest 
McNally  and  the  rest  of  them  should 
catch  sight  of  him.  "And,  sa?/,"  he 
thought,  "say,  next  time  I  feel  like 
tellin'  any  one  a  lot  o'  rag  like  that  —  !  " 

He  slipped  away  to  the  jeering  soli- 
tude of  his  berth  in  the  sleeper.  "  Heh! 
—  Heh!  I  guess  I'm  a  hero  all  right  fer 

fair!" 

One  might  almost  affirm,  by  th ,  time, 
tbnt  the  education  of  Mr.  Kuoert  t  :nmet 
Ignatius,  otherwise  Redney  McGaw  could 
not  have  advanced  more  r  pidly  in  the 
best  equipped  of  summer  colleges! 

To  their  next  campinsr-ground  it  was 
what  showmen  call  "  a  long  jump. ' '  And 
at  sunrise  they  were  still  several  hours 
from  their  destination. 

144 


THE  TRESTLE 


.'gan 


The  CO  >k-teiit  liands 
and  make  tor  tlie  wasi^ioorus.  In  a  little 
while  many  of  them  would  drift  out  to 
the  breezy  platforms  between  cars  to 
trade  stories  with  the  animal  men  from 
the  car  ahead. 

Now  those  early  morning  hours  had 
always  been  particularly  delectable  ones 
to  Red.  They  had  been  for  several  days 
in  the  Western  Appalachians,  as,  indeed, 
they  were  still.  ^  nd  it  had  been  his 
wont  to  sit  swinging  his  legs  from  the 
step  below  McNally's,  watching  the  sun 
suck  up  the  mist  as  the  fresh  woods  and 
rivers  unrolled  themselves  beneath  him, 
and  listen  to  yarn  after  yarn  with  a  spirit 
which  could  ask  no  more  of  joy. 

But  now  he  waited  till  every  one  else 
in  the  sleeper  had  risen  and  washed. 
And  even  then  it  was  only  Coakeney's 
ensnaring  accents  coming  in  through  the 
open  door  that  finally  drew  him  forth. 

"Why,  hello    there,  friend    McQ-aw," 
10  145 


I 


i 


REDNEY  McGAW 


cried  McNally,  "and  how 's  panther  tamin' 
this  morning! " 

"I  'ear,"  Coakeney  took  it  up,  — "I 
'ear  that  there's  an  elephant  gone  musth 
(mad)  over  in  the  Sellspaugh  Show,  an' 
they  've  been  wirin'  to  see  if  they 
couldn't  get  you  to  take  an  hour  off 
an'  go  after  'i/w." 

That  there  was  nothing  but  chance  in 
the  character  of  those  remarks,  —  that,  in 
fact,  they  were  meant  rather  in  the  way  of 
compliment,  did  not  occur  to  Red  for  one 
reflecting  moment.  So  they  had  heard 
about  that  Amzi  Jimson  business  already, 
—that  was  what  they  meant  to  him.  "  Ah, 
youse  are  throwin'  it  onto  me  early!  "  he 
said :  "  but  I  guess  it  was  comin'  to  me,  all 
right'  "  And  with  a  face  of  flame  he 
made  for  the  other  end  of  the  car. 

The  porter  had  left  the  door  open. 
From  the  platform  of  the  sleeper  a 
long  succession  of  "flats"  laden  with 
the  menagerie    and  the  parade   chariots 

14G 


TilE  TRESTLE 


1 


stretched  on  and  on  to  the  end  of  the 
train. 

The  sheet-iron  bridges  were  still  in 
place  between  cars.  Red  crossed  the 
first  of  them.  The  speed  and  the  number 
of  the  curves  made  the  feat  a  decidedly 
dangerous  one.  And  it  was  that  very 
element  of  danger  in  it  that  filled  him 
with  a  sudden  crazy  impulse.  "  Heh,  if  I 
was  to  come  ridin'  into  town  in  the  forty- 
horse  l)and  wagon,"  he  said  to  himself; 
"mayho  that^d  show  them!  Maybe 
they'd  see  it  ain't  all  talkin'  with  me 
after  all!" 

He  began  to  work  his  way  back  past 
van  after  van. 

He  had  to  grip  the  spokes  to  get  around 
the  biggest  of  them.  And  he  did  n't  dare 
look  out.  But  he  kept  steadily  on.  The 
train  was  going  slower  now,  but  only 
because  they  were  passing  from  ridge  to 
ridge  by  a  sort  of  loop-the-loop  movement. 
And  Red  had  just  caught  sight  of  the 

147 


I 


l> 


REDNEY  McGAW 


huge  "  forty-Uorse,"  toweriug  in  its  liood« 
of  tarpaulin,  w^'-n  suddenly  the  car  he 
was  on  se<  med  to  swing  itself  in  the 
wrong  direction.    He  went  off  sideways 
falling-  on  his  shoulder.     He  pitched  into 
a  stretch  of  muddy  clay  which  softened 
the  fall.    But  even  so  he  jolted  himself 
hadly  enough  to  lie  there  half  stunned, 
blinking,  and  seeing  imaginary  circles  of 
blue  light  go  up  from  nowhere,  till  the 
last  car  had  cracked  the  whip  around  the 
curve  which  had  thrown  him. 

"  Gee!  "  he  murmured  painfully,  as  ho 
got  to  his  feet,  "  Gee !  And  I  guess  it  '11 
be  the  next  train  fer  mine,  if  I  ketch  any 

at  all." 

Another  minute  of  aching  self-exami- 
nation. And  then:  "It'd  ought  to  be 
along,  too,  in  an  hour  or  so.  I  want  to  be 
gettin'  ahead  to  some  place  I  can  flag  it 

from." 
Feeling  of  his  shoulder  once  more,  he 

limbered  up  and  started. 

148 


THE  TRESTLE 


He  had  ^one  perhaps  a  quai-ler  of  a 
mile  wlieu  the  curve  camo  unexpectedly 
out  upon  a  valley.  The  track  was  carried 
across  a  wide  rocky  ravine  by  a  hundred 
yards  of  spindling  trestle-work. 

"  Skids !  "  he  said,  "  I  guess  I  was 
mighty  lucky  to  get  my  fling  as  noon! " 

The  situation  was  certainly  rough 
enough.  On  the  right,  leaving  scarcely 
room  between  the  track  and  rock  for  a 
little  spring  and  some  raspberry  bushes, 
the  mountain  side  lifted  itself  straight  up 
for  sixty  or  seventy  feet.  On  the  left, 
with  a  slope  almost  as  steep,  and  ragged 
with  tumbled  bculders  and  blastings  for 
as  far  as  Red  could  see,  the  bank  dropped 
down  to  the  gras.'^-growii  traces  of  a  coun- 
try road.  In  the  valley  he  could  make 
out  several  deserted  derricks;  and  in 
the  blue  beyond  the  woods  there  was  a 
slender  file  of  smoke -htacks.  Through 
the  clear,  transparent  morning  air  a 
distant  whistle  blew. 

149 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"Heh,  I  giiess  that's  the  last  call  to 
breakfast,"  he  said.  And  after  getting  a 
drink  from  the  spring  he  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  the  raspberries. 

Once,  when  he  looked  up,  or  rather 
down,  he  noticed  a  man  come  out  upon 
the  road  below.  But  it  was  too  far  away 
to  tell  if  he  was  a  railroadman.  And  Red 
went  back  to  his  breakfasting. 

When,  however,  he  had  worked  his 
way  around  that  clump  of  bushes  so  that 
his  eyes  fell  upon  the  man  a  second  time, 
it  seemed  to  him  that  there  was  some- 
thing almost  familiar  in  that  sliding, 
shuffling  walk. 

"Well,  I  didn't  know  as  I  had  any 
friends  just  in  this  I'cality,"  he  said. 
And  he  ate  some  more  raspberries. 

But  he  ate  no  more  after  his  next  look 
down.  The  man,  — there  could  be  no 
doubting  his  eyes  now, —the  man  was 

Fat! 
In  a  moment  Red  had  pulled  his  head 

150 


THE  TRESTLE 


back:  "Skids!  "  he  said,  " skids!  —Then 
I  guess  it  was  them,  all  riglit !  "...  It 
was  not  a  thing  you  could  get  down  in 
one  minute,  or  in  two!  .  .  .  "Well,  as 
long  as  he  keeps  to  the  wagon  road<— !  " 
And  next  moment,  with  a  slow,  squint- 
ing peer  to  right  and  left.  Fat  began  to 
hoist  himself  heavily  up  the  slope. 


151 


CHAPTER  XII 


} 


THE  YELLOW  CANDLE 

Fat  again,  and  something  that  may  he  a 
great  deal  more  dangerous  than  a  hlack 
panther;  Red  is  given  a  chance  to  play 
Horatius  at  the  Bridge. 

RED  would  have  been  a  great  deal 
more  afraid  if  it  had  been  Cut  Nose. 
And  what  did  make  him  afraid  wasn't 
so  much  the  man  himself,  or  even  the 
memory  of  that  blown-up  gasoline  tank 
and  steam-boiler,  as  a  lurching  irregu- 
larity in  Fat's  movements  which  said 
plainly  that  he  had  been  drinking.  For 
Fat  in  his  right  mind  Red  had  always  kept 
a  kind  of  unreasoning  regard.  But  not 
less  clearly  had  Red  learned  what  Fat 
could  be  with  drink  in  him.  From  being 
not  so  much  a  bad  man  as  an  imitator  of 

152 


m^-. 


wmm 


THE  YELLOW  CANDLE 

bad  men,  he  turned  first  into  a  very  silly 
person,  and  then  into  a  man  with  the 
mood  and  dispositk     of  a  wild  beast. 

Suddenly  he  sent  a  glance  upwards. 
At  all  times  his  eyes  were  as  quick  as  a 
cat's.  And  he  saw  Red  and  recognized 
him  in  the  same  instant. 

His  mouth  went  wide  with  amazement. 

"  Well  —  for  —  the  —  !  Youse  /  "  he 
said,  "  youse  —  " 

Red  could  not  get  words  into  his  throat 
to  answer  anything  whatever. 

"  And  what  happens  to  'a'  dumped  you 
heref  " 

"  It  was  the  train  that  dumped  me.  I 
fell  off.  Where  —  heh  —  where  are  you 
goin'  tol " 

'•Where  am  I  goin'  tol  But  first 
gimme  time  to  make  up  me  mind  it's 
you."  He  still  continued  to  stare  at  him 
half  incredulously. 

"Where  did  youse  say  you  was  goin* 
to?" 

ir)3 


I    I 


II 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"Where  am  I  goin'  to!"  — And  now 
that  Fat  had  finally  begun  to  recover  from 
his  amazement,  he  showed  an  unlooked- 
for  disposition  to  be  friendly:  "  Why,  an' 
did  n't  we  start  out  for  Chicag'  together, 
Bol  Only  youse  decided  to  shake  old  Cut 
Nose  an'  me  for  somethin'  better." 

"  I  thought,"  sr'.id  Red,  still  very  ill  at 
ease,  —  "  I  thought  I  'd  be  goin'  quicker 
with  the  Show." 

"  Sure,  sure  youse  will !  But  how 
d'  you  reckon  to  ketch  up  again,  nowf  " 

"I  was  thiukin'  I  could  maybe  flag 
the  second  train." 

And  as  soon  as  Red  had  said  that,  he 
realized,  he  knew  not  how,  that  he 
shouldn't  have. 

"  Oh,  was  you  now  I  "  In  a  flash  Fat's 
thick  face  lit  with  an  indescribable  grm 
of  quick,  if  maudlin,  cunning:  "Then, 
maybe,  /  could,  too!  When  I  get  my 
second  wind  I  11  have  to  climb  right  up !  " 

Red  drew  back,  beset  by  a  rush  of 

154 


THE  YELLOW   CANDLE 


doubts  and  anxiety.  What  did  Fat  want 
to  flag  that  train  fori  And  v^  at  did  he 
mean  by  "  flagging  "  it!  Red  believed  — 
and  he  was  probably  right  —  that  Fat  did 
not  exactly  know  himself.  Once  more, 
he  did  not  act  like  a  bad  man,  but  like  a 
bad  boy  bent  on  getting  even  with  some 
neighbor  who  has  taken  the  whip  to  him. 
But,  whatever  idea  might  be,hazily  filling 
the  turbid  mind  of  Fat,  Red  could  not 
but  turn  his  eyes  towards  that  long 
spider-work  trestle  just  ahead. 

If,  he  told  himself,  anything  should 
happen  to  one  of  the  show  trains  oti  a 
bridge  like  that!  And  then  he  re- 
solved in  his  heart  that  Fat  must  not 
be  allowed  to  do  any  "  flagging"  of  any 
sort  at  all. 

But  Fat  had  already  begun  to  climb. 

"Ah,  say,"  said  Red,  with  a  kind  of 
coaxing  chumminess,  "no  need  of  your 
comin'  up.  If  you  got  any  message  for 
the  Show,  I  can  take  it  for  youse." 

155 


II 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"Thanks,  but  it's  a  fellah  I  want  to 


see. 


»> 


»> 


"Well,  I  can  see  him  for  youse. 

"Look  here,"  said  Fat,  coming  to  a 
stop,  "what's  the  matter  with  youse, 
anyway!  " 

"  There  ain't  nothin'  the  matter.  But 
there's  some  things  in  the  Show  been  — 
the  gasoline  plant  an'  the  steam-boiler 
they  both  was  put  out  o'  business  last 
week  —  they  got  bio  wed  up  some  way. 
All'  they  ti-xuk  —  any  ways  some  o'  the 
Show  people  think  —  ' ' 

For  a  moment  Fat  gave  him  the  comer 
of  his  eye.  Then  he  lifted  his  hand  with 
the  gravity  of  a  legally  taken  oath.  "  Bo, 
looky  here,  —  will  youse  believe  me  if  1 
tell  youse  something?" 

"  What  is  it  you  want  to  tell  me!" 

"That  if  there  was  any  blowin'  up 
done,  it  wasn't  me  that  done  it,  see!  It 
was  n't  done  by  yours  truly." 

Red  did  believe  him.     But  a  moment 


mmmmm 


THE  YELLOW  CANDLE 


later  iie  had  a  second  and  a  sharply  mod- 
ifying thought.  "  Well,  but  are  youse 
thinkin'  of  doin'  any  I  " 

And  at  that  Fat's  whole  mannev  and 
expression  changed  completely.  He 
brought  his  hand  down  on  his  thick 
knee  and  sputtered  foolishly,  "  You  're  a 
sharp  one.  Bo,  you're  a  sharn  one!" 
Then  once  more  he  began  to  climb. 

Something  in  Fat's  very  laugh  put  cold 
fear  into  Red.  And  if  he  was  to  do  any- 
thing, he  knew  he  must  do  it  now.  "  Aw, 
come  on,"  he  said,  "you  an'  me  was 
always  good  friends.  An'  I  've  told  youse 
if  you  got  any  message  —  " 

Fat  stopped,  and  chuckled  more  hugely 
than  ever.  "  Oh,  I  got  a  message,  all 
right,"  he  said.  "  But  I  don't  just  know 
as  you  could  deliver  it,  —  not  when  it 
happens  to  be  a  message  like  this.^^ 

The  liquor  had  apparently  driven  all 
idea  of  caution  out  ot  him.  He  pulled 
from  his  coat-pocket  a  stick  of  something 

157 


I 


m 


REDNEY  McGAW 


which  Red  had  soen  by  tho  box-full,  when 
they  were  doing  the  blasting  for  the  New 
York  Subway.  It  looked  like  a  big  candle 
of  yellow  soap.  And  there  could  no 
longer  be  any  doubt  as  to  what  had  torn 
the  pipes  out  of  the  steam-boiler.  Wher- 
ever Fat  and  Cut  Nose  had  obtained  it, 
it  was  dynamite ! 

>row    practically   all  Red's  reading  — 
other  than  the  baseball  score  -  had  been 
of  "  Dead  wood  Dick,"  who  single-hamlcd 
defied  :md   slew  entire    gangs  of  "bad 
men  " ;  or  of  "  Frank  Fearless,  the  Young 
Sleuth,"  who  compelled  twelve  desperate 
counterfeiters  to  tie  one  another  while  he 
stood  by  and  juggled  with  his  revolvers. 
But  Fat  was  in  no  way  like  those  "  bad 
men  "  in  the  Five  Cent  Library.    He  had 
shown  that  stick  of  dpiamite  muoh   as 
Red  himself  might  have  shown  a  cauno^i 
firecracker  that  he  intended  to  put  under 
a  shoe-shino  stand.     It  w.'  ^  plain  enough 
that  he  had  no  real  plan.oi  any  real  sense 

158 


THE   YELLOW  CANDLE 

of  what  he  was  doing,  and  none  at  all 
of  what  he  might  do  by  accident.  "O' 
course,  Smiles,"  he  chuckled  again,  "  I  'm 
not  aimin'  to  hurt  no  one  bad!  I 
would  n't  want  to  do  that." 

Red  did  not  feel  like  "  Frank  Fearless  " 
or  "  Deadwood  Dick."  He  told  himself 
that  somehow  or  other  ho  must  keep  Fat 
from  doing  that  "  flagging."  But  all  his 
boy's  instinctive  dread  of  the  grown  man, 
intensified  a  hundred  times  by  the  sight  of 
the  dynamite,  was  upon  him.  "  Aw,  come 
on,  now,"  he  said,  gulping,  "  I  guess  youse 
wouldn't  do  anything  o'  that  kind." 

"Oh,  we  got  the  stuff  to  collect  the 
damages  wit', "  said  Fat,  as  if  he  had  not 
heard  him.  "  Cut  Nose  has  collected  a 
chunk  of  his  already,  ^o  you  see  it's 
up  to  poor  old  Fat  to  begin  gettin'  his 
actions  now." 

Once  more  lie  sniggered  to  hi)nself, 
then  put  the  dyramite  ))ack  into  his 
pocket  and  began  to  climb. 

15  > 


,£/ 


n 


REDNEY  McGAW 

'•Ah,  youse  are  only  jollyin'  now," 
said  Red ;  "  youse  are  only  jollyin' .' '  He 
made  a  last  unhappy  attempt  to  smile. 

Fat  mounted  another  ten  feet. 

And  then  Red  fiercely  nerved  himself 
to  his  resolution.  He  commenced  to  pick 
up  loose  pieces  of  ballasting  stone, - 
to  gather  ammunition.  But  his  fingers 
wabbled  as  he  did  it.  And,  "Aw,  look 
here,''  he  said.  "I'm  kind  o'  takin'  care 
o'  things  up  here.  You  better  just  stay 
down  where  youse  were  " 

"  Oh-h,  no !  -  Oh-h  no !     Can't  let  old 
Cut  Nose  do  everything  in  gettin'   our 
revenges, -would n't  be  on  the  level." 
"  Well,  now,  Fat,  y-ise  ain't  gom'  to 

come  up  here!  " 

"Ain't  gain'  to!-Ai.'  that'll  youse 

do  to  stop  mel"  ^ 

"I'll  rock  youse!"  cried  Red;      i  U 

rock  youse!" 

"  You  '11  what,  Bol "    And  he  got  him- 
self up  to  the  first  rough  ledge. 

IGO 


^  I 


"lie  toppU'<l  ovir  hack  wards."     /'«</«'  I'H 


i"' ^-f  ftft^flW- 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


150 


2.8 
3.2 


2.5 


12.2 


li:    Nn 

^  US,  iiiiim 


1.8 


1.6 


MICROCOPY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

NATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  STANDARDS 

STANDARD  REFERENCE  MATERIAL  1010a 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


THE  YELLOW  CANDLE 


Red  desperately  made  himself  hard, 
lifted  a  stone  as  big  as  half  a  brick,  and 

threw  it. 

It  caught  Fat  on  the  chest  just  as  he 
was  getting  ready  to  pull  himself  around 
the  next  big  fragment  of  limestone.  He 
toppled  over  backwards,  his  legs  tangled 
up,  and  he  rolled   down  half  a   dozen 

yards. 

In  his  life  on  the  New  York  streets 
Red  had  heard  a  deal  of  evil  speech,  but 
what  he  heard  during  the  moments  that 
followed  gave  him  a  sort  of  weakness. 

"  If  he  ketches  me  now,"  he  thought, 
—  and  he  could  not  finish.  He  hrd  begun, 
though,  and  he  must  go  through  with  it. 


11 


161 


l! 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A  RED-LINED  JACKET 

The  same  continued,  and  that  eve-  more 
unpleasantly  for  both  parties  concerned; 
some  more  or  less  familiar  sounds  heard 
upon  a  railroad  track,  and  Red  finishes 
with  his  flag  flying. 

THE  fall  had  driven  the  fog  of  liq- 
uor out  of  Fat.  But  a  fog  of  gag- 
ging, gnashing  fury  had  taken  its  place. 
He  drew  himself  in,  covered  his  face 
with  his  arm,   and  started  upward  on 

the  rush. 

By  now  Red  had  had  time  to  line  his 
whole  fort  front  with  broken  pieces  of 
stone,  and  he  threw  them  as  fast  as 
he  "  could  put  them  in." 

To  use  more  of  his  own  language, 
too,  most  of  them  "went  over  the 
plate."     One  struck  Fat  on  the  shcul- 

1G2 


A  RED-LINED  JACKET 


der,  another  on  the  knee.  Another 
landed  between  neck  and  jaw.  "And 
youse  know  I  'm  not  wantin'  to  do  it," 
Red  kept  shouting  miserably ;  "  nor  it 
ain't  really  youse  I'm  rcokin'!" 

"  You  '11  know  —  cripes,  you  '11  know 
what  '11  happen  to  youse  —  when  I  get 
to  the  top ! "  Yet  for  the  most  part 
Fat  was  no  longer  saying  anything 
that  you  could  imderstand  at  all. 

But  he  kept  on  climbing. 

Red  would  have  given  all  he  pos- 
sessed,—  he  would  have  left  The  Big 
Show  itself,  to  have  been  anywhere 
else.  Yet,  turning  back  on  his  feelings 
again,  "Skids,"  he  thought,  "maybe, 
if  I  did  n't  want  to  run  so  much,  it 
wouldn't  take  so  much  nerve  to  keep 
stayin^  here ! " 

And  this  time  it  was  not  Red's 
"rocks  "that  sent  Fat  back  He  had 
set  his  foot  on  a  clump  of  horsetail 
that  was  as  smooth  and  sUppery   as 

163 


■i^m'"^ 


REDNEY  McGAW 

pine-needles.    He  went  down  sideways, 
and  again  roUed  fairly  to  the  bottom. 

That  second  fall  turned  him  ulmost 
wholly  into  the  wild  beast.  He  re- 
mained a  man  only  in  so  much  as  he 
still  had  the  brain  of  man  to  do  the 
thinking  for  his  rage. 

«'  If,"  yelled  Red,  "  if  one  o'  these 
hunks  hits  that  dynamite,  I  bet  you  'U 

know  it ! "  ,,,174. 

"AH   right! -AW  right,   son!     tat 

frothed ;  "  then  I  '11  put  -  put  it  where 
it  won't  be  hit ! " 

He  drew  out  that  first  cartridge  and 
.hen  a  second,  thrust  one  into  each 
"pistol"  pocket,  and  started  up  agam. 

Red's  coat  had  come  open.  The 
bright  Turkey  flannel  lining  of  his  old 
office-boy  uniform  caught  his  eye,  and 
burned  a  new  thought  into  his  bram. 
He  drove  another  piece  of  rock  at  Fat. 
Then  he  jerked  his  coat  off  altogether, 
and  flung  it,  inside  out,  upon  the  clump 

164 


A  RED-LINED  JACKET 


of  raspberry  bushes.  "1  guess  that 
ought  to  flag  them,  anyways,"  he  said, 
and  rushed  back  to  the  line  of  his 
defenses  again. 

Once  more  Fat  was  half-way  up. 
And  now  the  sounds  that  came  from 
his  throat  were  like  those  made  by 
fighting  dogs  when  they  are  feeling  for 
the  death-grip. 

Red  picked  up  stone  afler  stone  and 
sent  them  home.  The  stress  of  the 
excitement  was  carrying  him  entirely 
out  of  himself  He  was  crying,  al- 
though he  did  not  know  it.  And  he 
was  crLzily  laughing,  too.  "  Here 's  an 
old-style  in-shoot ! "  he  shouted  in  his 
hysteria.  "  And  how  did  you  like  that 
corkscrew-er  V  "You  can  take  your 
base  on  that  one,  all  hunky !  "  "  Here  's 
the  newest  thing  in  spitballs ! "  "  And 
I  got  a  lot  more  comin',  too  !  " 

Yet  even  now  he  never  struck  Fat 
but  what  Lv?  felt  sick  at  himself      For, 

165 


mzMr 


BEDNEY  McGAW 


•„    it  WIS  n't  Fat  he  was  fighting 
again,  it  "''"  "  ''         ,    ,        •  ,„  .<  *«, 
•*i,      \na  Ws  mood  changing.     AW, 
with.     And,  ni»       ^  „  .. ,     -why  can't 
why  can't  youse  stop  it»     vvny 
^olse  stop  it  r' he  begged     Bntrt  was 

.1        1,+    "if  onlv  the  <jr.  ^^'   ^"^ 

h,  ihoueht,    ''«,,,  ^a  toe 

said  in  the  depths  of  his  soul;      he  s 

V,'  to    sure'"     He  rememheied  the 

5:;essorof  the  visitors  used  to  try 

Tget  them  to  say  at  the  "Newsies 

LoLing  House.  "  But  Uns  was  no 
r  J  f  tl^in-  to  go  askin'  God  to  mix 
kmd  of  thmg  to  s,o  ^^  ^^^^body 
Hlsself  up  with.      And,     An,  .; 

help  me!"  was  the  nearest  he  got  to 

asking  Him. 

166 


•^■'^* 


A  RED-LINED  JACKET 


But,  while  he  was  sayhij^  it,  once 
agahi  Fat  had  lost  his  l)ahiiice  and  was 
pitching  almost  to  the  bottom  of  that 
jagged  slope. 

"And  youse  are  roUin'  on  your 
dynamite,  too,  youse  want  to  mmd!" 
shrieke'^   ^■^"'. 

Fat  ovvly  grinding  his  teeth. 

"  I  jus.  oC  boen  thinkin'  o'   that," 

he  said  raucous!/ ;    "  so  I  '11  —  I  '11  send 
half  of  it  up  to  youse ! " 

Screening  himself  behind  an  over- 
hanging ledge,  he  jerked  out  one  of 
the  yellow  sticks  and  a  bunch  of  fuses. 
There  came  the  scratch  and  flare  of  a 
match. 

"  Ah,  that  — that  ain't  fightin'  fair!  " 
Red  cried;  "that  ain't  fightin'  fair! 
Ah,  Fat,  stop  it!"  For  a  minute  he 
continued  to  throw  dementedly  at  noth- 
ing at  all.  Then,  when  he  saw  the  flung 
cartridge  leave  Fat's  hand,  he  dropped 
flat  on  his  face  I  :tween  the  rails. 

167 


REDNEY   McGAW 


The  yellow  candle  hurtled  over  his 
head,  descended,  and -though  Red 
coull  not  know  it  then  — fell  into  the 
ooze  of  the  spring. 

As  he   lay   theie,  pressing   his   un- 
breathing   lips    agamst    the    oily    bal- 
last, it  seemed  to  him  that  he  could 
have  counted  a  thousand.     An  "  m-m- 
m-mmmmmmm  "  throbbed  and  sung  in 
his  ears;  he  did  not  know  whether  it 
came  from   inside  or   outside    of  h.-i. 
And  then  followed  a  thudding,  crashing 
roar.     It  boomed   within    Red's    head 
like  shouting  in  a  rain-barrel.     Another 
three  or  four  seconds,  and  things  began 
to  strike  him :  "  Maybe,  now,  he  'd  been 
killed   and    didn't  know   it    yet  1"— 
But  in  reaUty  he  had  been  struck  only 
by  bits  of  mud  and  gravel,  as  the  geyser 
thrown  up  by  the  explosion  came  harm- 
lessly to  earth  again. 

And    at    that    moment    Red    began 
to  comprehend  something  else.     That 

168 


A  RED-LINED  JACKET 


** m-m-m-inmmmmmm"  was  the  strange 
wireless  message  sent  ahead  of  it  along 
the  rails  by  every  approaching  train  ! 

He  leaped  to  his  feet  in  a  very  de- 
lirium of  triumph.  Fat's  face  was  peer- 
ing, greenish  white,  around  the  broken 
ledge.  He  was  half  sobered  already. 
And  he  felt  u.  relief  at  seeing  Red  still 
there  that  was  almost  as  great  as  any 
Red  could  feel  himself. 

But  Red  was  in  no  state  to  be  aware 
of  that.  He  pickel  up  another  stone 
and  sent  it  wildly  down.  "  You  car't  kill 
me ! "  he  yelled.  "  T  ou  can't  kill  me ! 
I  like  dynamite !  Throv  me  some 
more !     It 's  good  for  me  appetite ! " 

Fat  stood  a  moment  longer.  He  still 
had  his  affair  to  settle  with  Red,  and 
{another  to  settle  with  The  Big  Show. 
But,  as  that  long  red  circus  train  began 
to  work  into  plain  sight,  he  would  will- 
ingly have  known  how  to  stop  it,  with- 
out having  to  make  any  explanations. 

169 


if 


REDNEY  McGAW 


"Ah,  I   guess   I   didn't   hurt  their 
blame'  old  track  none,"  he  shouted  up, 
meaning  in  reality  that  he   hoped  he 
hadn't.     And  then   he  saw  that   Red 
was  going  to  do  the  flagging  with  his 
flannel-lined  jacket.     He   was  alread^^ 
running   down   the  rail  edge   with    it, 
and  picking  a  place  on  the  slope  where 
he   would  be    in    clearer   view.  — Fat 
dropped  down  from  boulder   to  boul- 
der, cursing  hhnself  with  ever  7  wrench, 
reached   the   wagon-roaa   again,   flung 
his  second  cartridge  into  the  ditch,  and 
plunged  intj  the  bush. 

For  a  time  Red  believed  that  he  was 
dohig  that  flagging  in  vain,  The  loco- 
motive drove  by  him,  and  the  tender, 
and  one,  two,  three  cars!  — But  he 
waved  on  with  both  hands,  yelling  till 
his  throat  felt  as  if  it  were  full  of  files  and 
fish-hooks.  And  then  his  ears  caught 
the  sudden  clashing  grind  and  shriek  of 
the  air  brake.     F     saw  a  head  thrust 

i70 


A  RED-LJNED   TACiiET 


itself  out  amid  a  cloud  of  deafening 
steam  about  the  sliding  engine.  He 
started  dizzily  to  run  towards  it,  and 
found  himself  falling  down.  Two  min- 
utes later  they  were  lifting  him  into  the 
brassy  reek  of  a  big  hot  Mogul  cpb. 


And  when  all  four  trains  had  at  last 
made  the  next  lot,  and  the  whole  B!-\ 
Show  had  heard  about  it  —  'it  whv 
attempt  to  tell  it  all !  Fill  your  memory 
with  what  happened  after  that  combat 
with  the  black  panther,  and  then  multi- 
ply the  intensity  of  the  congratulations 
he  then  received  by  about  a  thousand. 
Mrs.  Miiller  was  so  proud  of  him  that 
she  carried  hiin  around  to  the  back  of 
the  tent  and  washed  him,  face,  neck, 
and  arms  to  the  elbows,  with  her  own 
hands,  —  before  the  G.  M.  should  hear 
about  it.  Red  felt  her  taking  whole 
patches  of  skin  off  in  her  pride. 

A  second  time  Big  Heinle's  feelings 

171 


REDNEY  McGAW 


expanded  like  his  chest  measurement, 
though  more  than  ever  he  was  con- 
firmed in  his  belief  that  "  circusses  wass 
derrible  dangerous  blaces";  and,  as 
usual,  the  peril  he  had  been  m  himself 
convinced  him  that  vastly  greater  perils 
were  hanging  over  that  "  leedle  Heinie  " 
back  in  New  York. 

Hans  Sohmer's  gratitude  was  such  as 
only  the  gratitude  of  one  who  has  the 
responsibility  of  a  great-grandmother 
on  his  hands  can  be! 

McNally,  for  his  part,  manifested  his 
feelings  by  showing  Red  how  he  could 
get  into  Deva's  very  heart's  core  by  gifts 
of  a  particular  sort  of  ginger-cake,  a 
secret  which  he  himself  had  been  ten 
years  discovering. 

And  as  for  those  Japanese  Twins, 
Togo  and  Nogo  — ! 

But  this  time  being  a  hero  made  Red 
very  apprehensive.     It  was  the  sort  of 

172 


A  RED-LINED  JACKET 

thing  that  was  sure  due  to  "knock" 
you  sooner  or  later.  And  he  was 
glad  enough  when  the  G.  M.  ended  it 
by  informing  him  that  the  Show  was 
not  going  to  say  any  more  at  present ; 
but  maybe  it  would  be  able  to  do  a 
little  real  talking  when  h^  was  leaving 
them  at  Dubuque. 

"  But  say,"  said  Red  with  infinite 
color,  "  what  about  —  heh  —  what 
about  all  that  rag  you  heard  me  gettin' 
off  to  Arazi  Jim  son,  the  kid  I  brought 
in  free  back  there?" 

"  Oh,"  said  the  G.  M.,  "  what  about 
that?  What  about  that?  Why,  I 
thought  that  that  was  a  little  matter 
that  we  were  to  keep  just  between 
ourselves." 


^■(1 


173 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  WHISTLES  BLOW 

A  hot  day  ;  some  laughter  from  the  hyenas, 
in  which  they  are  markedly  alone; 
Red  ''notices  something'';  a  life-boat 
drill  with  sledge-hammers  ;  first  scenes 
in  a  ''blow-down.'' 

IT  was  as  well  that  The  Big  Show 
had  not  planned  to  do  its  "  talking" 
the  day  it  made  its  third  lot  in  Mich- 
igan. For  that  day  — Friday  — was 
one  it  was  long  to  remember  for  some- 
thing else. 

The  week  had  been  a  hot  one  from 
the  beginning.  The  Kadick  bear  had 
been  sitting  on  his  haunches,  shakmg 
his  head  in  his  misery  as  if  to  say : 
"It's  no  use.  In  fact  I'd  rather  die 
now  than  have  to  stand  this  for  another 
minute ! "      The  "  Fighting  Kangaroo 

174 


^"'M.,= 


...   ,vp  :^v7-=ir"- 


THE   WHISTLES  BLOW 


next  door  had  stretched  himself  on  his 
back,  and  crossed  his  forepaws  over  his 
bosom :  he  had  not  only  prepared  him- 
self to  die,  but  to  be  laid  out  afterwards. 
The  thermometer  had  made  its  mark  at 
93°  on  Tuesday,  and  it  had  been  going 
up  a  degree  daily  ever  since.  As  for 
Friday,  having  begun  with  90°  at  ten  in 
the  morning,  it  seemed  to  have  been 
adding  its  degree  with  every  stifling 
hour.  .  .  .  "Oh,  I  s'y,  you  know," 
gasped  Coakeney,  from  under  a  hat- 
ful of  grass,  "  I  feel  as  'ot  as  the  fellah 
sellin'  the  palm-leaf  fans."  But  he  was 
about  the  only  one  who  made  a  joke 
of  it. 

And,  indeed,  had  The  Big  Show  been 
keeping  its  perspiring  eyes  less  closely 
upon  that  steady  rise  of  the  thermom- 
eter, it  would  have  noticed  that  the 
barometer  was  as  steadily  going  down. 

But  the  day's  peifonnance  had  to  be 
given.     **  If  they  can  stand  it  to  sit  in 

175 


REDNEi   McGAW 


their  shirt  sleeves  and  look  on,"  Mc- 
Nally  put  it,  "  of  course  they  take  it  for 
granted  we  can  stand  it  workin'."  He 
varied  his  third  turn  by  ha\ing  Deva 
walk  in  beside  him  fanning  him  with 
the  Queen  of  Sheba's  sacred,  imperial 
fan  from  the  Grand  Pageant.  "  And  it 
did  a  lot  more  than  make  a  hit,"  he 
said.  "  It  was  the  only  thing  that  kept 
me  alive  to  finish!" 

The   striped    hyenas  gave    the  first 
real  wammg.      The   crowds  had  just 
.  commenced  to  pass  through  the  menag- 
erie tent  for  the  evening  performance, 
when  those  hyenae  striatae  began   to 

"  laugh." 

The  menagerie  boss  stopped,  turned, 
and  looked  at  them  with  a  face  grimly 

significant. 

"Oh-o!"    whistled   Coakeney.     "So 
we  're  goin'  to  'ave  a  bit  of  weather  as 

well ! " 

"Red,"  said  Elephants,    "you   vist 

176 


»B«.Qs:a»SL;?-:'  ■  r."^'i?3^7T»-''  ■  '^^f^w^: 


THE  WHISTLES  BLOW 


see  if  you  can 


take  a  squint  outside,  a 
see  anything." 

Red  went  outside.  The  sky  had  a 
queer  coppery  look,  but  that  was  not 
a  thing  for  a  city  boy  to  notice.  He 
came  back  and  reported  that  he  could  n't 
see  anything  at  all. 

"  All  right,"  said  McNally.  **  Maybe 
if  you  wait  a  little  while  you  will."  And 
for  the  fourth  time  that  day  he  started 
his  troupe  for  the  arena. 

He  had  not  been  gone  ten  minutes 
when  Red  did  begin  to  notice  some- 
thing. Since  the  menagerie  begins  to 
close  up  and  move  for  the  trains  with 
the  commencement  of  the  night  show, 
at  eight,  in  midsummer  it  has  no  need 
of  "  chandeliers."  But  it  seemed  to  need 
them  now ! 

"  I  s'y,"  inquired  Coakeney,  "  don't 
you  'ave  any  twilight  in  this  quarter  of 
you.  bloomin'  wonderful  couitryT' 

"  And  it  '3  coolin'  off  again! "  said  Red. 
12  177 


■i,^vr'V  i§r 


REDNEY  McGAW 


I  I 


"Yes,"  broke  in  Klepliants,  at  that 
moment  coming;-  liurriedly  back  with  the 
little  four;  ''and  if  you  take  another 
look  out  now,  you  'U  putty  near  know 

why." 

This  time  Red  and  Coakeney  weuu 

together. 

Part  of  the  sky  was  still  copper-hued. 
But  over  their  heads  there  was  swiftly 
rising  a  tremendous  blow  of  tumbling, 
on-rolling,  blue-black  cload.  Coakeney 
whistled,  and  they  ducked  back  into 
the  fast  darkening  tent  as  if  to  "  get 
from  under." 

McNally  crooked  his  thumb  towards 
the  "  big  top."  "  And  a  whole  town- 
ful  of  yaps  in  there  that  ought  to  be 
at  home  in  their  cyclone  cellars!" 

Unquestionably  Elephants  seemed  to 
be  getting  nervous. 

''Well,  we  could  offer  them  their 
money    ba    ,    couldn't    weV    asked 

Red. 

17S 


:rv:wm^ 


THE  Wr^ISTLES  BLOW 


Coukeney  laughed.  "  Their  money 
back !     iVIy  blessed  h'eye !  " 

*'  And  you  can  bet,"  explained  Ele- 
phants, "  that  the  G.  M.  would  pay  a 
few  for  the  chance!  But  you'd  find 
you  could  n't  get  one  in  ten  *o  take  it 
back.  They  'd  want  to  stay  to  see  Big 
Heinie  win  the  last  chariot  race  if  it 
was  the  Judgment  Day ! " 

The  keepers  commenced  to  walk 
slowly  up  and  down  in  front  of  the  ele- 
phants ;  and  they  tried  to  reassure  them 
with  little  slaps  on  their  trunks.  .  .  . 
One  of  the  smallest  began  to  whimper, 
as  if  he  was  afraid  of  the  dark. 

"Now,  you're  all  right,"  said  Mc- 
Nally ;  "  Daddy  '11  take  care  of  you.  — 
Red,  just  put  your  head  outside  and  see 
how  close  she 's  gettin'  now." 

Save  for  a  little  bronzy  rim  where  the 
sun  had  set,  the  whole  sky  had  become 
the  color  of  dark  gray  cotton  batting. 
Frightened   people  were    scattering 

179 


i  i 

I 


REDNEY  McGAW 

across  the  vivid  commons.     Some  birds 
came  rapidly  over.     It  would  have  been 
hard  to  say  whether  they  flew  or  were 
blown.     As  yot  the  black,  ever-growmg 
silence  overhanging  all  had  been  broken 
by  no  drop  of  rain.     But,  as  Red  lifted 
the  side  wall  to  return,  the  lirst  gust  of 
wind  to  reach  the  ground  whipped  the 
heavy  "four-ply"  from  his  hands  anl 
filled  the  tent  with  a  breath  as  cold  and 
wet   as   any   ever  blown  from  ocean. 
Little  snapping  waves  ran  up  and  down 
the  canvas,  and  all  the  big  center  masts 
creaked  together.     The  who^e  twenty- 
acre  "lot"  seemed  suddenly  to  fill  with 
that  sound  of  creaking  wood  and  strain- 
ing canvas.    It  was  as  if  some  great 
sailing  fleet  were  about  to  be  overtaken 
by  a  hurricane.     McNally  had  no  need 
now  to  ask  "  how  close  she  was  " ! 

"But,  heh,"  said  Red,  attempting 
to  turn  his  anxiety  into  nonchalance, 
"  what 's  the  pa'tic'lar  danger  9  " 

180 


THE  WHISTLES  BLOW 


"  Son,"  answered  McNally,  "  if  you 
ever  see  one  bad  blow-down,  you'll 
never  ask  that  question  again ! " 

"  But  the  band 's  keepin'  on  playin' 
right  ahead." 

*«0f  course!  It's  got  to.  Once  it 
stopped, — while  you  couldn't  get  them 
out  by  reasoning — the  whole  mob  in 
there  'd  be  tramplin'  each  other  next 
minute  in  a  panic!  And  yet  they're 
goin'  to  stay  in  there  as  long  as  it  is 
playin'!  Lord,  what  can  a  show  do. 
anyway  1 " 

"  My  aun^  "  said  another  keeper,  "  are 
they  never  goin'  to  get  the  teams  around 
to  fetch  these  cage  wagons  out !  " 

Just  at  that  moment,  though,  there 
began  to  make  itself  heard  the  quick 
hollow  calling  of  a  boatswain's  whistle. 

"Ah,  there  they  come  now,"  said 
Elephants. 

"An'  jolly  well  time!"  said 
Coakeney. 

181 


REDNEY  McGAW 


To  be  inside  there  made  Red  feel  a 
lot  more  creepy  than  to  be  out.  And 
again  he  ducked  under  the  canvas  to 
the   chiUed  half-darkness  of  the  open 

lot.  -     . 

Elephants  and  Coakeney  had  mis- 
taken that  whistle.  The  teams  were 
not  comhig  yet.  It  had  been  an  emer-^ 
gency  call.  And  a  double  squad  of 
canvas-men  with  sledge-hammers  had 
started  on  the  run  from  the  tool  wagons. 
Now  they  were  taking  their  places  each 
at  a  guy-rope  stake  of  the  big  top.     It 

was  like  a  life-boat  drill And,  as 

long  as  the  stakes  can  be  kept  m,  even 
a  six-master  big  top  can  generally  hold 

its  own  p 

In  the  lee  of  the  bellymg  length  of 
the  great  tent  there  burned  a  row  ot 
gasoline  flares.  But  whenever  a  man 
tried  to  take  one  around  to  the  other 
side,  it  puffed  out  in  an  instant.  .  .  • 
From  every  direction  those  wan,  qup.ver- 

182 


■"^',-  ■*;ifa  f" 


THE  WHISTLES  BLOW 


ing 


whistles  were  calling  now.  And 
suddenly,  with  one  shat^^ering  crash  of 
lightning,  down  came  the  rain! 

Red  could  hardly  get  his  breath  till 
he  was  inside  and  stood  streaming  by 
McNally  again.  The  hail-like  drops, 
threshing  upon  those  acres  of  drum-taut 
canvas,  gave  off  one  universal  rip-p  as 
of  tearing  silk. 

Coakeney  \nd  McNally  were  still 
with  the  elephants,  —  "holding  their 
hands." 

"  There  's  a  gang  watchin'  the  big 
top,"  shouted  Ked ;  "  but  there 's  no- 
bod  v  watchin'  us." 

"No,  nor  there  won't  be!"  McNally 
shouted  back.  "The  G.  M.  Irok^  ^- 
ter  the  yaps,  an'  we  look  aftei  )>  - 
selves.     And  he 's  dead  right,  too !  " 

"  But  w'y  don't  they  get  these  blessed 
caiges  h'out  1 "  shrilled  Coakeney.  "  If 
we  move  these  bulls  before  we  know 
w'ich  way  the  teams  are  comin'  in,  we  '11 

183 


•'w*i.  im  lOT'Wrfi'i 


'vt-s'  L-  ■  •.*■  '?y  - 


i 


n 


1  i 


REDNEY  McGAW 

get  everythiuk  tangled  14)  so  blightin' 

fierce  —  " 

To  the  animal  men  the  danger  was 
not   so  murd   in  the   possibility   of  a 
♦•blow-down"    08   in   the    stcidily   in-   . 
creasing  chance  of  a  stampede  of  the 

elephants. 

The  huge  "  bulls."  as  Coakeney  called 
them,  are  not  afraia  of  any  storm  what- 
ever as  long  as  they  can  be  taken  out- 
side hito  a  clear  field  and  allowed  to 
see  that  it  is  a  storm.  When,  however, 
they  have  to  go  through  it  in  the  tent, 
worked  upon  by  the  foolish  frenzies  of 
all  the  other  animals,  just  how  they  wdl 
act  may  be  a  very  diff'erent  matter. 

But  these  particular  boatswain's  whis- 
tles which  the  menagerie  was  waiting 
for  made  themselves  heard  at  last. 
They  wailed  nearer  and  nearer.  And 
following  them  came  the  clash  of  har- 
ness and  the  wild  '^Yip,  yip,  yipf"  of 
the  teamsters. 

184 


THE  WHISTLES  BLOW 


i^ 


A  section  of  side  wall  was  brought 
down  with  a  rush.  And  like  the  bring- 
ing up  of  battery  after  battery  under  an 
unbroken  cannonade,  the  plunging  six- 
horse  teams  swept  through. 

"Stables  all  down  an'  lyin'  every 
way!"  shouted  a  driver,  hoarsely;  "that's 
what 's  been  the  matter  with  us !  " 

The  menagerie  men  had  begun  "  hook- 
ing up  "  before  the  horses  had  come  to 
a  halt. 

"  You  '11  have  to  double  up  on  the 
heavy  chariots,"  cried  McNally;  "for 
we  can't  help  you  to-night."  (By  ive  he 
meant  the  elephants.)  "  We  '11  have  to 
put  a  whale  of  a  lot  of  ginger  into  it 
if  we  're  goin'  to  get  out  ourselves !  " 

After  the  first  flashes  of  lightning  it 
was  so  black  that  he  had  to  feel  for 
Red,  and  to  make  Red  hear  he  had  to 
lay  his  mouth  against  his  ear.  "Just 
take  hold  of  Mother  Deva's  fin  for  a 
minute,"  he  said.    "  The  old  girl 's  as 

185 


1 


REDNEY  McGAW 


good  as  gold.  But  the  back-flap  is 
slappin'  her  every  time  it  blows  in,  and 
a  little  more  of  that  —  " 

He  followed  Coakeney  on  the  jump 
for  the  "jacks,"  — the  pump-like  levers 
with  which  the  big  tent  pegs  and  ele- 
phant stakes  are  pulled. 


I    I 


186 


CHAPTER  XV 

DEVA  ON  A  MARATHON 

Increasing  need  for  ginger  cakes;  Deva 
follows  the  crowd,  and  takes  Red  with 
her;  some  flash-lights;  thoughts  upon 
riding  a  haircloth  sofa  at  midnight  in 
Michigan  hush;  and  a  new  method  of 
alighting,  —  that  of  climbing  a  tree. 

RED  kept  tight  hold  of  that  snaky, 
single-fingered  "hand."  All  the 
great  pachyderm's  fear  quivered  down 
through  it,  and  his  own  fear  now  gave 
him  a  sense  of  fellowship.  "  Heh !  "  he 
kept  saying,  "  I  guess  what  we  need  to 
put  ginger  into  us,  Mrs.  Deva,  is  some 
more  of  them  ginger  cakes ! " 

Even  within  the  tent  the  gasoline 
flares  could  not  now  be  kept  alight. 
And,  in  one  sense,  there  was  little  need 

187 


% 

h 


I 


REDNEY  McGAW 


11  I 

i 


of  them.  The  lightning  had  gradually 
become  almost  uninterrupted,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  flashes  were  not  out- 
side, but  in.  It  was  like  the  explosion 
of  endless  gigantic  arc  lamps. 

The  cages  had  all  been  closed  long 
since.  But  that  did  not  keep  terror  out 
of  them.  Every  animal  in  the  menag- 
erie was  yelping  and  yaning,  shriek- 
ing and  gibbering  and  howling,  and 
the  big  cats  could  be  heard  hurling 
themselves  to  and  fro  against  the  sides 
of  their  dens. 

Amid  the  shouthig  of  the  teamsters, 
cage-wagon  followed  cage-wagon  into 
the  storm-swept  lot.  Inside,  the  atmos- 
phere was  fast  becoming  one  of  bedlam. 
By  now,  up  and  down  that  dolmen-like 
half-circle  of  elephants,  as  if  in  response 
to  some  diabolical  "  Heave-ho,  and  all 
together!"  there  was  running  a  terrify- 
ingly  regular  "  rock  and  swing  " !  And 
the  big  tethering  had  begun  to  draw 

188 


DEVA  ON  A  MARATHON 


without  any  need  of  help  from  stake- 
machines  in  human  hands! 

Again  and  again,  as  the  wind  flung 
that  back-flap  against  the  shaking  Deva, 
Red  could  feel  fear  go  through  her. 

"Elephants!"  he  yelled,  *•  Elephants ! " 

But  Elephants,  feverishly  pumping 
at  his  "jack,"  could  not  hear  him. 

And  at  that  moment  a  whole  section 
of  the  tent  seemed  to  go  flaccid.  It 
collapsed  almost  upon  Deva's  back. 

^^ Elephants !  Elephants  !  Goakeney  !  " 

Another  section  caved  down  and  fairly 
knocked  him  over. 

"  Stay  with  her  now !  Stay  with  her ! " 
some  one  cried. 

Red  thought  he  was  shouting  to  him. 

"  All  right,"  he  gasped ;  "  but,  skids, 
burnin'  decks  is  easy  to  this ! " 

And  then  the  whole  side  of  the  tent 
seemed  to  go  raking  over  his  head.  But 
that  ae  was  standing  almost  under  Deva 
it   would    have    carried    him   with   it. 

189 


i     ■; 


|:'l(^ 


• 


I      i 


REDNEY  McGAW 


There  was  a  crash  of  broken  cages  as 
the  center  poles  came  to  the  flat.  The 
keepers  were  inside,  the  elephants  out. 
The  younger  beasts  in  the  middle  piv- 
oted around,  stretched  forth  their  trunks, 
and  blearing  their  complete  demorahza- 
tion,  charged  straight  ahead  of  them. 
What  stakes  had  not  been  pulled  al- 
ready tossed  behind  them  as  they  ran. 

Deva  caught  Red  and  set  him  be- 
tween he-  front  legs.     But  if  she  stayed 
she  would  stay  alone.     She  wavered  a 
moment    longer;    then,   swingmg  him 
upon  her  back,  she  followed  the  others. 
The  line  she  had  taken  lay  withm  a 
hundred  feet  of  the  "  big  top."     Red  saw 
it  go  by  as  a  great  luminous  blur.     And 
high  above  the  storm,  high  above  the 
yells  of  that  line  of  protecting  canvas- 
men,  he  could  hear  the  band  still  play- 
ing !    He  even  noted  somehow  that  they 
were  playing  "  Make  a  Noise  like  a  Hoop 

and  Boll  away ! " 

190 


DEVA  ON  A  MARATHON 


He  did  n't  cry  out.  He  still  kept 
enough  of  his  senses  to  realize  the  use- 
lessness  of  it.  As  he  lurched  now  to 
this  side,  now  to  that,  he  merely  tried 
to  hold  his  grip  on  the  back  edge  of  the 
big  rubbery  ears,  and  make  his  legs 
straddle  the  neck,  if  it  could  be  called  a 
neck !  "  I  guess  this  is  my  finish  this 
time ! "  he  kept  telling  himself;  "  I  guess 
this  is  my  finish  for  fai^ ! " 

But  as  yet  there  was  no  sign  what- 
ever of  anything  finishing!  Deva's 
size  and  speed  had  gradually  given  her 
the  lead,  and  she  kept  it  at  a  pace  to 
gallop  down  a  horse.  When,  too,  she 
seemed  on  the  point  of  going  head  on 
against  a  low,  brick  freight-shed,  she 
went   about,  ving  her   Gargantuan 

bugle,  and  sta^  .^d  over  the  common  on 
the  right. 

In  the  next  three  flashes  of  lightning, 
even  as  if  they  had  been  artificial  flash- 
light exposures.  Red  saw  three  things 

191 


' !  11 


m\ 


REDNEY  McGAW 


that  he  knew  he  would  remember  as 
long  as  he  remembered  the  stampede 
itself.  The  first  was  the  "Fighting 
Kangaroo,"  taking  such  leaps  as  animals 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  take  only  in 
dreams.  The  second  was  one  of  the 
lions,  backed  up  against  an  overturned 
chariot  and  spitting   and  striking   out 

like  a  cat. 

And  the  third  was  Cut  Nose! 

There  was  no  mistaking  him.  He 
was  fleeing  from  the  direction  of  the 
circus  trains.  And  in  the  face  of  Cut 
Nose  there  was  fear  such  as  neither 
blow-down  nor  elephant  stampede  could 

add  to!  .  .  . 

On  the  edge  of  the  common  Deva 
went  through  what  must  have  been  a 
board  fence  as  if  it  had  been  made  of 
berry-box  sphts.  Red  could  scarcely 
feel  the  jar.  Then  they  came  out  upon 
the  open  road.  There  were  two  roads, 
in  fact.      Deva,  followed  by  three   of 

192 


DEVA  ON  A  MARATHON 


her  frantic  retinue,  took  the  first;  the 
remainder  of  the  herd  were  crowded  oflf 
into  the  other. 

They  were  still  within  the  town 
limits,  for  at  intervals  there  were 
houses  and  electric  lights.  At  a  cross- 
ing a  horse  emerged  Irom  a  side  street. 
Next  moment  it  had  backed  its  pitch- 
ing rig  into  the  gutter,  sat  itself  down 
in  the  shafts,  and  was  beating  the  air 
with  its  forefeet. 

Another  half-mile  and  the  houses 
became  fewer,  while  the  electric  lights 
ceased  altogether.  They  now  began 
to  pass  intermhiable,  slanting  piles  of 
lumber.  There  came  tlie  sound  of  a 
waterfall,  and  they  found  themselves 
crossing  a  long  frame  bridge.  It  gave 
and  wayed  beneath  them,  and  Red 
felt  his  own  middle  give  with  it. 

But  they  passed  it  safely,  and  were 
now  out   upon  the  road  to   the  back 
townships.     And  if  in  that  more  than 
13  193 


I 


m 


REDNEY  McGAW 


darkness  Red  could  see  nothing  at  all, 
Deva  seemed  to  be  able  to  see  quite 
well  enough.  At  any  rate,  she  ran  in 
a  straight  line,  kept  the  middle  of  the 
road,  and  struck  nothing  but  a  few  low 
branch  ends.  Her  stride,  too,  had 
grown  a  great  deal  evener. 

Fifteen  minutes  more  went  by.  And 
Red  was  at  least  not  quite  so  certain 
that  his  "finish"  was  coming  within 
the  next  ten  seconds.  He  found  him- 
self almost  able  to  calculate  what  his 
chances  were,  and  he  became  a  lot 
more  conscious  that  the  bristles  on 
Deva's  back  were  pricking  him  like  an 
old  haircloth  sofa. 

But  when  was  Deva  ever  going  to 
stop  1  It  was  iiot  a  matter  of  minutes 
now,  but  of  half  an  hour,  of  an  hour. 
Tney  had  gone  miles  and  miles.  The 
thunder  rumbled  far  behind.  But  Deva 
still  held  on,  as  if  she  had  no  thought 
of  making  halt  this  side  of  the  Punjab. 

194 


DEVA  ON  A  MARATHON 


The  sky  was  clearing,  and  liere  and 
there  in  a  slashing,  or  when  the  bush 
was  not  so  thick,  they  had  a  glimpse 
of  starlight.  In  one  of  those  stretches 
Red  craned  his  neck  far  enough  around 
to  see  that  the  other  three  elephants 
were  not  following  directly  in  their 
leader's  footsteps.  They  were  trailing 
off  a  little  to  one  side.  "  If  I  could 
sneak  along  her  back  to  her  tail,  I 
could  likely  drop  off  without  gettin' 
hurt  much"  he  said. 

He  could  likely  have  done  no  such 
thing;  but  in  any  case  it  was  some- 
thing to  think  about. 

Another  half-hour,  and  they  passed  a 
small  log  shack.  There  was  a  light  in 
the  window.  The  elephants  all  lifted 
up  and  trumpeted  at  it  together  with 
the  defiance  of  guilty  consciences.  But 
as  the  door  jerked  open,  the  darkness 
swallowed  them  again. 

The  road  became  softer  now,  —  they 

195 


I 


REDNEY  McGAW 


were  entering  a  swamp.  And  in  the 
next  clear  space  there  was  another 
bridge.  It  would  never  hold  them  in 
the  world ! 

But,  by  now,  Deva  and  her  compan- 
ions seemed  to  be  regaining  a  lot  of 
their  native  wisdom.  As  they  ap- 
proached that  bridge,  they  slowed  up 
and  swerved  off  the  road.  Their  feet 
splashed  in  water.  A  branch  caught 
Red  under  the  chin.  He  clutched  it, 
and  two  huge  bulks  brushed  against 
his  legs  as  he  pulled  himself  desper- 
ately up  and  out  of  reach. 

His  arms  were  too  trembly  to  hold 
him  long.  He  worked  his  way  out  to 
the  end  of  the  branch,  let  himself  quak- 
ingly  down,  and  found  that  the  water 
came  only  to  his  knees.  Next  moment 
he  was  back  upon  the  road.  The  four 
elephants  were  sloshing  and  crashing 
their  way  on.     He  had  escaped! 

And  yetf  —  now  that  he  was  left  there 

196 


lX^I 


ft-;.- 


DEVA  ON  A  MARATHON 


alone  in  the  bush  at  night,  — fear  de- 
scended upon  him  Hke  a  flock  of  bats. 
He  turned,  and  ran  and  ran  and  ran, 
and  stopped  only  when,  breathless  and 
half  sick,  he  had  at  last  reached  that 
log  shack  that  marked  the  spot  where 
the  swamp  began.     The  door  was  open 
now.     A  man  and  his  wife  were  stand- 
ing staring  from  the  threshold,  talking 
in  halting  whispers  of  they  knew  not 
what.     And   when    they   had   brought 
Red  in,  from  him  they  heard  a  story 
which  seemed  to  them  a  little  the  most 
astounding  ever  told  in  Michigan. 


1 


197 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  FREAK  CAR 

Proaress  of  events  on  the  lot;  of  Little 
Michj  and  Big  Heinie;  of  a  circus 
sleeper  whkhivhile  dark  tvas  not  empty; 
Cut  Nose  visits  Togo  and  Nogo,  and 
though  coming  unexpectedly  is  clasped  to 
their  hosoms;  unaccountable  behavior 
on  the  part  of  Cut  Nose. 

IN  the  meautime  we  should  show  very 
little  feeling  if  we  any  longer  de- 
layed returning  to  The  Big  Show  to  see 
how  it  had  come  through  that  night's 
terrific  experience. 

In  one  way  it  had  come  through  very 
easily.  The  big  top  — the  focus  of 
show-man  anxiety  —  had,  with  the  aid 
of  its  guarding  stake-men,  held  firm  to 
the  last.  Some  side-wall  had  blown  in. 
Little,  muddy  torrents  had  poured  under 

198 


.-?■.     '-i 


TrT- 1  T-*«=^«P--«S?.- 


THE  FREAK  CAR 


the  seat-racks  wherever  they  were  on 
low  ground.  There  had  inevitably 
been  miniature  deluges  around  the  cen- 
ter poles,  and  down  the  Hues  of  lacing 
between  the  great,  mightily-straining 
widths  of  canvas.  But  that  was  every- 
thing. Some  ten  thousand  people  went 
home  beheving  at  the  end  that  they 
had  never  from  first  to  last  been  in  any 
real  danger  at  all. 

As  for  the  menagerie  tent,  we  have 
seen  already  what  happened  to  it.  But, 
as  the  menagerie  boss  explained  it  after- 
wards, "  When  an  animal  tent  blows 
down,  things  are  never  anywhere  near 
as  bad  as  they  look.  Gosh,  they 
could  nH  be.  It  ain't  in  nature  possi- 
ble ! "  In  the  present  case  two  horses, 
a  cage  of  wolves,  and  a  young  tiger 
had  been  killed.  The  corpse  of  the  lat- 
ter was  presented  to  the  local  museum 
for  stuffing,  as  a  slight  souven*  ,  in  the 
words    of  the    G.   M.'s    presentation 

199 


j_ 


:  r~^rC?<,^^K£'/  7-SI 


itlk.  Wfi^sinx^ .  i.".. 


■'WiSGfV'- ■».!:• 


REDNEY  McGAW 


reiimrks,  of  an  ev.iiiu-  The  lii^  Show 
felt  it  would  never  iorget. 

Three  lions  escaped,  which  was  also 
sonietlnno;  a  nuniV)cr  of  people  in  that 
town  and  its  immediate  vicinity  never 
forgot.    But  none  of  tliose  lion^  did  any 
acttial  damage.    And  when  all  was  said, 
and  their  capture  had  at  length  been 
safely    effected,    they    were    no    doubt 
almost   as   glad  to   get   back  to   their 
cages  as  the  surromiding  districts  were 
to^'see  them  go.     Speaking  broadly,  a 
lion  is  dangerous  only  when  he  is  at 
home.     When  he  is  n't,  the  thhig  occu- 
pying what  we  may  accurately  term  the 
lion's  share  of  his  attention  is  to  find 
out  how  to  get  there. 

In  the  matter  of  the  elephants  that 
had  not  gone  with  Deva,  they  had 
encompassed  their  own  capture.  As  if 
predestinate,  they  had  run,  ears  up  and 
trunks  out,  straight  into  some  old  gravel 
pits.     A  nd  there  an  hour  later  they  had 

2U0 


::Skii 


been  rounded  up  as  neatly  as  if  those 
pits  had  been  a  kheddah  especially 
arranged  for  the  grand  annual  "  drive  " 
in  Mysore  or  the  Chittagong  hills. 

Of  the    show   people   themselves,   it 
would  be  safe  to  say  that  for  Hans  Soh- 
mr;r  the  conscio         ss  of  what  might  have 
happened  to  hii.       juld  keep  his  great- 
grandmother  atHictingly  upon  his  mind 
for  the  next  month.    "  Sometimes  I  think 
I  haf  imrecht—l  am  unright— any  more 
to  take  sotch  rissks  mit  myself,"  he  said. 
And   that   night   it  was   Franz  and 
Ludwig  who  had  to  sustain  him  with 
the  comforts  of  philosophy.     For  Big 
Heinie  had  a  heart  affliction  of  his  cvm. 
One    of  those   elephants   subsequently 
to  be  rounded  up  in   the   gravel  pits 
was   the    mother   of  "Micky,"   the 
Show's  baby  elepl  -nt.     With   an  uV 
sence  of  every  right  maternal  instinct 
which  she  must  have  been  overwhelm- 
ingly ashamed  of  afterwards,  she  had 

201 


'A 


'H 


i 


WW 


<fr,«K;M^^. 


REDNEY  McGAW 


left  him  tangled  in  the  tent  ropes, 
and  fl;3d  for  her  life  with  the  others. 
And  when  Ll^  Heinie  came  out  from 
then-  last  turn,  there  he  stood,  lifting  up 
his  voice  in  a  way  to  silence  three 
orphan  asylums.  Nothing  looked  good 
to  Micky  any  more,  upon  this  earth ! 

It  was  Big  Heinle's  finisher  with 
the  circus  business.  "  Ach,  du  Ueber, 
Minna  "  he  shouted.  "  Don't  I  tell  you 
once  alretty  somedings'll  happen  mit 
dot  leedle  feller  yet  1 " 

In  vain  did  ]Mrs.  ^Miiller  make  answer 
for  the  hundredth  time.  That  it  was 
the  baby  elephant  who  was  temporarily 
an  orphan,  and  not  their  kiddy,  made 
no  difference  to  Big  Heinie  whatever. 
As  he  saw  it,  all  that  was  simply  an 
evasion,  an  attempt  to  dodge  the  ques- 
tion. He  had  heard  too  many  explana- 
tions of  tlie  sort  Ijefore.  Long  after  the 
majority  of  Tlie  Big  Show's  soaked 
and  bedraggled  performers  had  betaken 

202 


^AW! 


tflSkii^A 


THE  FREAK  CAR 


themselves  to  their  haven  m  the  trains, 
he  was  still  going  about  the  town  earth- 
quaking dairy  after  dairy  in  an  almost 
weeping  attempt  to  get  Micky  a  pail  of 
milk.  And  he  informed  every  keeper, 
canvas-man,  and  **  razor-back"  he  met 
of  his  irrevocable  determination  "for- 
effermore  to  yomp  der  yob,  and  mague 
a  try  at  der  farm  life  bei  Chicago ! " 

We  have  said  that,  as  Red  made  his 
nev  3r- to -be -forgotten  departure  from 
the  lot  on  the  rolling,  heaving  back  of 
Deva,  one  of  the  three  rain-swept  pic- 
tures brought  out  by  the  flash-light  of 
the  lightning  as  he  passed  had  been  of 
Cut  Nose.  And  the  longest  story  here 
to  be  told  is  about  him. 

For  the  preceding  fortnight,  and  at 
the  risk  of  capture  daily,  he  had  been 
traveUng  almost  move  and  move  with 
the  Show.  Wlien  he  fell  behind  one 
day,  he  jumped  a  freight  and  caught  up 
the   day  following.     He   hardly  knew 

203 


^"^^^^.^^^  9se:^MmmMmih'W'^Bimi^^¥immm  jipm 


REDNEY  McGAW 


m 


i 
I. 


himself  what  he  was  after :  perhaps  he 
sullenly  and  steadfastly  harbored  the 
hope  of  sooner  or  later  being  able  to 
catch  one  of  those  Saxon  Samsons  in 
some  place  or  manner  where  no  power 
of  biceps  could  keep  him  from  getting 
his  revenge. 

Meanwhile  he  had  been  waiting  his 
chance  to  get  into  one  of  the  sleepers 
when  they  were  empty,  and,  by  making 
a  good  choice  of  valises,  to  pick  up 
something  to  run  along  on.  And  that 
ni<rht  the  storm  seemed  to  offer  him  his 
opportunity.  While  the  evening  per- 
formance was  still  going  on,  all  the 
porters  had  gathered  together  in  one 
vestibule  down  at  the  end.  Cut  Nose 
saw  them  there,  and  drew  his  inference. 
He  tried  a  car  door.  It  was  open.  Not 
even  a  trainman's  lantern  had  been  lit 
inside.  Who,  possessing  even  a  much 
more  powerful  intellect  than  gentle- 
man Cut  Nose,  would  not  have  taken 

204 


V'^^SI^^r^^'Vi^Vlt  ^iJIHKv.^. 


THE   FREAK  CAR 


it    for    granted    that    that    car     was 
empty  1 

It  was  not,  however,  as  empty  as  it 
looked.  And  the  one  mo(lifvin«!^  detail 
which  Cut  Nose  could  not  know  was 
this : 

In  every  circus  which  carries  a  side 
or  "freak"  show,  the  "freak  "  sliow  closes 
up  a  few  minutes  after  the  main  show 
opens.  Its  tent  is  one  of  the  first  to 
come  down.  And  the  occupants  are 
free  to  make  their  way  to  their  traveling 
quarters,  the  "  freak  car,"  at  their  own 
convenience.  Now,  the  night  of  the 
blow-down,  most  of  those  unfortunate 
"  freaks "  preferred  to  huddle  together 
and  wait  for  clearer  skies  in  a  big  hotel 
driving-shed  directly  across  from  the  lot. 
But  the  manager  of  Togo  and  Nogo 
had,  as  the  physical  character  of  his 
charges  always  compelled  him  to  do,  al- 
ready bespoken  the  town  hack  for  them. 
With  no  regard  to   the   weather,  too, 

205 


I 


n 


REDNEY  McGAW 


they  had  wniited  to  get  to  their  car  as 
soon  as  they  could  tor  another  reason, 
one  of  then  own.     They  had  a  whole 
box  of  films  to  develop ;  and  in  the  con- 
ditions of  that  night  they  saw  a  chance 
to  do  the  said  developing  unhitermpt- 
edly.    Their  manager  had  departed  with 
the  hack  for  a  second  load,—  at  a  quar- 
ter apiece;  they  had  their   little   ruby 
lamp  burning  behind  the  closed  door  of 
the  wash-room,  and  had  just  settled  to 
their  work,  when  Cut  Nose  entered  that 
car  by  the  other  end ! 

As  must  have  become  evident  long 
since,  Messrs.  Togo  and  Nogo  rarely 
needed  to  be  instructed  in  the  meaning 

of  things. 

"It  is  too  soonly  for  Mr.  Nichibo's 
hack-drive  to  return,"  said  the  first,  put- 
ting down  a  fihn. 

"And  we  know  that  the  honorable 
Mr.  Halligan-o  at  this  hour  plays  pin- 
ochle with  the  porters  of  the  cars  most 

200 


*W 


THE  FREAK  CAR 


fiirthest  forward,"  said  the  second,  tak- 
ing his  hand  from  a  bottle  of  developer. 
"It  is  therefore  a  * thief-stealer.'" 

And  with  every  moment  there  came 
to  their  ears  more  proof  of  that. 

For  a  long,  cruel  minute  they  stood 
there,  rubbing  their  bare  feet  together. 
They  had  all  the  Oriental's  desire  to  keep 
out  of  trouble ;  I)  it,  compelling  them 
like  a  cpiadruple  conscience,  was  an 
overmastering  feeling  of  what  was  due 
from  them  to  the  country  they  were  in, 
and,  much  more,  to  Tlie  Big  Show. 

"It  is  of  tlie  greatest  unhappiness  we 
are  not  permit  to  carry  some  guns,"  said 
Togo,  almost  faltering. 

"It  is  for  that  we  must  try  catch  him 
with  some  of  our  hands,"  responded 
Nogo ;  "  we  must  become  those  great 
heroes  like  the  honorable  ]led  McGaw." 

For  a  few  seconds  longer  they  stood 
there.  Then  they  nerved  themselves  to 
it.     Putting  out  their  light,  they  noise- 

207 


If 


REDNEY  McGAW 


■■ '  a 


t 


lessly  opened  the  wasli-room  door,  and 
becau  to  advance,  extended  across  the 
aisle  nuich  like  the  I  "^^er  11. 

If  you  are  after  tat  i.nglish  clnb  baj^s 
and  suit-cases  padded  out  ^vith  silver- 
backed    brushes,    the    "  freak    car "  is 
hardly  the  coach  in  which  to  look  for 
them.     With  furtively  twitchino-  fingers 
Cut  Nose  had  groped  into  half  a  dozen 
profitless  valises  scattered  among   the 
rear    berths,  —  when    "  snitclnng  "    he 
had  always  found  himself  horribly  "  shy 
on  his  ne: ve  "  at  the  best,  —  and  only 
by  forcing   hhnself  to  it,  had  he  now 
started  on  down  the  car  again,  when  he 
halted  quaking.    "  Gripes!''  —  He  could 
have  sworn  that  he  had  heard  some- 
thing    UiOving,     and     something  —  he 
stood   there  seeming  to  feel   the  very 
blood  go  out  of  lihn  —  something  that 
sounded   like    neither    human  heinrj  nor 
animal!     Already,  too,  he  believed  he 
heard  it  again.     In  the  sheer  need  of 

208 


%;'V*«-aiKji 


*M'  n¥»m 


itfw.BFev 


THE  FREAK   CAR 


pruvin^  hiinselt'  wroiiji;,  he  took  u  step 
forward,  breathed,  and  took  another. 
At  that  second  step  he  struck  as  it  were 
the  connectinjr  bar  of  the  "H"  whicli  at 
once,  and  with  all  its  limbs,  gibberhigly 
closed  up  on  him. 

A  j^roup  of  loaders  had  followed  the 
big<^er  herd  of  elephants  as  far  as  the 
sidhigs,  when,  from  six  tracks  over.  Cut 
Nose's  first  yell  came  to  them.     They 
went  to  it,  tumbling  over  each  other, 
guided  by  the  yells  that  followed.     For, 
until  they  found  that  the  sounds  came 
from  the  interior  of  the  train,  they  fully 
expected   nothing   better   than  to    Hnd 
some  runaway  "  cat "  standing  over  its 
convulsively  expiring  victim.     And  in- 
deed, when  they  had  plunged  themselves 
breathlessly  into  the  darkness  of  the  car, 
it  was  some  time  before  they  could  form 
any  conception  of  what  the  thing  was 
that  now  shriekingly  rolled  itself  along 
the  aisle,  now  battered  itself  against  the 


!    I 


I    I 


Ihi         I    III  III     I    lllllll  II  !■  I    1 1^   llll I  I  I  I  I     i—llilili    III  I  fl 


P-JSttkb 


II 


REDNEY  McGAW 


berths.     *'  I   ti'll  you,  ])oys,"  tliey  said 
allerwards,  ''  it  siiiv  Hcared  us  !  "     Cut 
Nose  was  not  trying  to  fi<,dit  back.     He 
liad  from  the  first  nionicnt  lost  all  com- 
mand of  himself    His  only  thought  was 
to  get  away.    "  Lennne  go !   Lemme  go ! 
Lemme   go!"    he    shrieked.     "Oh,  for 
cripes'  sake,  lennne  go !  "     And  he  had 
fairly  jerked  himself  to  pieces    in   his 
frenzy,  when  at  last  those  loaders  real- 
ized the  situation  and  pried  Togo  and 
Nogo  off.     Even  then  their  victim  did 
not  wait  to  see  what  it  was  that  had  got 
hold  of  him.     He  broke  through  his  de- 
liverers, screeching  out  anew  whenever 
his  hands  touched  anything  that  might 
still   be    it,  —  threw  himself  from   the 
end  of  the  car;    he  was  still  running, 
mouth  open,  when  Red  saw  him  from 
the  back  of  Deva.     And,  for  the  matter 
of  that,  —  save  perhaps  for  some  chance 
mention  later,  —  he  may  herewith  be  al- 
lowed to  run  himself  out  of  this  story. 

210 


THE   FREAK  CAR 


Anion*::  tlie  kcoj    fs  whose  Hympatliies 
Big  Ht'inic  luul  attcniptod  to  enlist  in 
behalf  of  the  loud-roaring   Micky  was 
McNally.     But,    for   the   remainder  of 
the  night,  McNally  had  other  things  to 
think  of.     When  those  first  elephants 
were   coraled   in  the   gravel   pits,   and 
sent  in  contumely  back  to  tak(    !    :.r 
accustomed    climb    into    their    proper 
show   cars,    a   counting   of  heads  had 
soon  made  clear  the  absence  of  Deva 
and  the  other  three  along  with  her.     A 
little  examination  of  the  lot   and   the 
roads   around    it   under   the    returning 
starlight  showed  plainly  enough  which 
direction   they   had   taken.     And  then 
four  keepers  were  called  in  to  the  (J.  M. 
and  the  menagerie  boss,  and  received 
their  campaign  orders. 

Next  mornhig  about  seven,  at  the 
door  of  that  very  log  shack  where  ^Ir. 
Red  McGaw  was  then  eating  a  large 
and  filling  bowl  of  oatmeal  porridge, 

211 


t 


! 


REDNEY  McGAW 


two  muddy  backboards  from  the  town 


livery 


to  a  stand.     They  had  fol- 


came 
lowed  the  runaways  thus  far,  and  had 
stopped  to  make  inqmries  as  to  the 
next  road  through  the  swamp  to  the 
westward.  In  the  first  livery  were  two 
young  German-American  animal  men 
whom  Red  knew  only  slightly.  But 
McNally  was  in  the  other,  and  beside 
him  Coakeney  as  well! 


212 


CHAPTER  XVII 

AN   ELEPHANT  HUNT 

McNally  and  Coakeney,  a  bucUoard  and 
a  cooked  ham;  latest  and  approved 
methods  of  stalking  "  unparalleled  per- 
forming pachyderms''  in  Michigan. 

rpHEY  had  a  bag  of  oats  behind 
J-  them,  and  a  cooked  ham  and  two 
loaves  of  bread  in  a  box.  And  they 
were  in  for  an  elephant  hunt  which, 
McNally  said,  might  last  a  week! 

That  was  enough  for  Red.  His  por- 
ridge went  unfinished.  And  it  was  no 
use  for  Coakeney  to  doubt  whether 
they  had  the  authority  to  take  him 
along.  "  Heh,"  he  said,  "  ain't  I  been 
in  charge  of  them  elephants  right  up  to 
here  I "  They  might  just  make  room  for 
him,  and  drive  ahead,  and  tell  him  what 
had  happened  since  he  'd  left  the  lot. 

213 


^ 


REDNEY  McGAW 


now 


happened  has 
Lce  can  be  given 
McNally's  com- 
tnents.    Whea  he  had  loft    the  three 
lions  were  still  wandering  about  loose. 
But,  'as  he  viewed  it,  "  A  thmg  like 
that   is  good    for   a   town    now    and 
again,    you    know.      It  keeps   people 
from  gettin'  up  too  blame'  early  for  a 

''  As  for  Cut  Nose's  affair,  "  And  that's 
a  fanny   thing,  too,"   said  Elephants 

reflectingly ;  "it's  &™y-.^^^7''„,f, 
touched  him  off  the  way  it  did.  But 
you  never  can  tell  what  '11  scare  a  man, 
can  you,  Coak,  old  boy  r' 

Then  Red  heard  about  Big  He.nie, 
and  Micky  and  the  milk  "I  want  to 
.ay,  too,"McNallyended,  "iflknow 

that  big  foUer.  he  ain't  goin- to  hang  on 
much  past  Chicago.  If  the  G.  M.  U 
give  them  their  release,  it'll  certamly 
be  good-bye  to  The  Big  Show  for  the 

®  214 


AN  EliEPHANT  HUNT 


Miiller  family  now.     No  jokin'  about  it 
this  time." 

"  Aw,  say,  now  ?  "  said  Red. 
"That's'right." 

It  was  an  announcement  that  gave 
Red's  heart  a  sudden  sense  of  empti- 
ness.    He  had  n't  known  till  th  -n  that  he 
liked  those  Miillers  quite  so  much.     He 
fell  into  silence,  and  did  not  speak  again 
till  they  had  reached  the  bridge  where 
P-     >  had  left  him  and  the  roa  1  together. 
'    .e  two  Germ  an- American  keepers 
^  ...  waiting  for  them  there.     One  man 
took  the  bridles  of  both  teams,  and  the 
rest  of  them  pushed  a  little  way  into 
the  swamp.     And  then  even  Big  Heinie 
could  no  longer  hold  first  place  in  Red's 
thoughts.     He  saw  that  on  the  bank  of 
that  little  creek  the  great  tracks  came 
completely  to  an  end  ! 

"Skids!"  he  said,   "there  ain't  any 
quicksand  or  anything,  is  there  1 " 

"  Quicksand    your    ear ! "    answered 

215 


ill 


¥i 


^■itKm 


'¥w 


McNally.  "Those  beasts  are  simply 
doin'  just  what  they  'd  be  doiii'  at  home 
if  they'd  ucver  seen  a  white  man  hi 
then-  lives.  They  're  goin'  to  keep  fol- 
lowin'  this  creek  bed,  or  portage  over 
and  follow  others,  as  long  as  they  're  in 
here.  They  won't  leave  nmch  more 
trail  than  a  musk-rat." 

They  returned  to  the  buckboard  and 
cUmbed  in  again. 

"  If  we  'ad  a  cl'y  bottom  to  work  on," 
Coakeney  took  it  up,  "  we'd  'ave  some 
chance,  but  these  black  swamp  creeks 
won't   tell  you  anythink   at   all.     We 
know'd   they'd   strike   for   the   runnin' 
water.     And  as  soon  as  we  saw  what 
the  runnin'  water  was  like  'ereabouts, 
we  saw  that  all  we  could  do  was   to 
drive  the  roads  till  we  'it  the  trail  good 
and  fresh.     They  '11  keep  on  goin',  but 
they'll  have  to  cross  the  roads  when 
they  come  to  them.     And  there 's  where 
they  '11  prmt  us  our  fingerposts." 

210 


AN   ELEPHANT   HUNT 


Elephants  had  managed  to  get  hold 
of  some  comity  maps,  which  showed 
tliat  it  was  a  thirty-five-mile  circuit 
around  that  swamp  alone.  But  the 
"animal  men"  did  not  seem  to  regard 
that  as  anything  out  of  the  way.  The 
other  buckboard  had  gone  straight 
ahead.  And  now  McNally  turned  his 
team  off  to  the  left  at  the  first  soggy 
concession  line. 

"  We  '11  meet  them  on  the  other  side 
an'  compare  notes,"  he  said.  "If  we 
hit  the  trail  again  before  dark,  we  '11  be 
doin'  well  for  to-day.  And  now  it's 
time  we  were  gettin'  a  litt'e  somethin' 

to  eat." 

They  filled  a  tin  tea-pail  at  the  next 
spring,  and  got  out  their  bread  and 
boiled  ham.  And,  as  they  cut  off  big 
slices  with  their  jack-knives,  they  ex- 
panded on  the  nature  of  the  jontract 
ahead  of  them. 

According    to    McNally,     elephants 

217 


,!l  WK,.  n^h     n 


REDNEY  McGAW 


being  big  animals,  once  they  start  out 
fast,  their  momentum  is  bound  to  carry 
them   a    long   way.     Even   after   they 
have    forgotten    what    has    stampeded 
them  they  will  keep  on  going  just  on 
general  principles.    Out  in  Nebraska,  he 
said,  in  the  middle  of  a  farming  country, 
too,  an  elephant  hunt  after  a  railroad 
smash  once  lasted  ten  days !     For  the 
beasts  seem  to  have  an   instinct  that 
keeps  them  to  the  water  whenever  it 's 
anyway  possible,  in  order  not  to  leave 
any   trail   behind.  .  .  .  You   could  be 
pretty    sure,    too,    continued   McNally, 
that  "they'd    never    do    any    .raveUng 
between  sun-up  and  sun-down.     In  the 
daylight  they  'd  make  for  the  thickest 
bit  of  woods  they  could  find  and  lie 
doggo  there.     But  then,   again,  in  the 
case  of  elephants,  you  never  could  tell, 
you  never  could  tell.     If  it  looked  like 
it  might  be  to  then-  interest,  they  might 

do  anything  at  all ! 

218 


AN  ELEPHANT  HUNT 


It  mubt  have  been  seven  or  eight  miles 
to  the  next  road  which  paralleled  that 
taken  by  the  runaways.  It  was  an 
abandoned  logging  trail,  almost  over- 
grown. But  the  teau  was  a  good  one, 
and  McNally  pushed  them  into  it  and 
let  them  take  their  time. 

And  it  was  the  middle  of  the  af- 
ternoon when  all  three  occupants  of 
the  buckboard  raised  a  cry  at  once. 
Through  the  roadside  and  across  the 
road  itself  were  tracks  that  could  not  be 
mistaken  for  any  but  elephants',  even 
by  one  who  had  seen  elepharis  only  m 
picture  books. 

They  all  jumped  out.  The  horses 
were  willing  enough  to  rest.  And  with 
Coakeney  leadmg,  the  three  pushed 
their  way  into  the  prickly  thickset  mass 
of  evergreen.  There  was  still  a  vague, 
balsamy  aroma  of  bruised  and  broken 
cedar  twigs.  And  if  it  seemed  impos- 
sible that  the  great  animals  could  have 

219 


ijK 


n*  mui^s^i^tLT.'^xj^iSfii'^u 


REDNEY  McGAW 


gone  through  there,  as  McNally  put  it, 
an  elephant  is  just  a  pig  in  a  good 
many  ways;  and  he  will  go  through 
where  only  the  pig  kind  can. 

Within  another  hundred  yards  they 
struck  water  again,  and  the  trail  dis- 
appeared at  once. 

Shielding  their  faces,  they  got  them- 
selves back  to  the  road.  McNally  tore 
a  page  out  of  his  notebook,  wrote  a  line 
of  instructions  to  the  other  two  keepers, 
spitted  it  on  the  end  of  a  branch,  and 
followed  Red  and  Coakeney  into  the  rig. 

"And  there's  no  danger  of  their 
gettin'  past  it,"  he  said;  "so  now  all 
we  can  do  is  turn  around  and  begin 
another  loop." 

That  night  they  stayed  in  an  old 
lumber  camp.  The  long-deserted  stable 
furnished  them  hay  for  their  bedding, 
and  they  built  a  smudge  fire  to  keep 
off  the  mosquitoes.  For  a  time  they  sat 
around  it  and  talked.      Strange  night 

220 


AN  ELEPHANT  HUNT 

noises  came  in  to  them.  And  McNally, 
with  his  experience  of  ahnost  every 
species  of  wild  thing,  was  able  to  tell 
what  most  of  those  night  calls  were. 
.  .  .  Red  was,  at  any  rate,  mighty  glad 
that  they  were  now  about  twenty  miles 
away  from  where  the  three  lions  had 
escaped. 

Led  by  that,  by  degrees  his  thoughts 
went  wholly  back  to  The  Big  Show. 

"  How  long  d'  yuh  think  they  '11  wait 
for  us '} "  he  asked. 

"Wait  for  us  nothin' !  We  got  to 
catch  up  to  them.  They're  playin'  in 
Bay  City  to-day ;  and  to-morrow  they  '11 
be  in  Grand  Rapids.  We  '11  likely  make 
connections  again  in  Chicago.  A  circus 
don't  wait  for  anything,  son.  It  plays 
right  ahead  to  its  circuit,  even  if  it  has 
to  leave  all  its  elephants  behind,  playin' 
to  the  bull  frogs." 

They  fixed  a  screen  of  old  boards, 
edge    up,    between    their   hay   shake- 

221 


<i 


REDNEY  McGAW 


downs  and  the  fire,  put  more  wood  and 
smudge  on  the  blaze,  and  stretched  out. 
And  McNally  and  Coakeney,  at  least, 
were  soon  fast  asleep.  If  you  start  out 
to  catch  elephants  in  Michigan,  you  can 
make  sure  of  success  only  by  takmg 
lots  of  rest  as  you  go  along. 


1; 


I'    V 

I 


I.  !<■ 


222 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


SOME  THRILLS  AND   SHIVERS 

Continuation  of  the  elephant  hunt;  Red  is 
almost  in  danger  of  losing  his  nerve; 
"  tutt  cum  min  " ;  the  "  hand-shake  with 
one  finger ' ' ;  and  a  special  train  to 
Chicago. 

TKE  day  following  was  almost  a 
repetition  of  the  first.  But  the 
three  elephant  hunters  were  gradually 
getting  through  the  swanip  into  higher 
ground.  And  now,  too,  they  laid  out 
a  new  plan  of  campaign.  That  after- 
noon they  gave  the  horses  a  long  lay 
off.  They  themselves  went  to  bed  with 
the  hens,  —  or  the  partridges  if  you 
like,  —  and  they  got  up  again  at 
moonrise. 

"  It'll  give  us  a  chance  to  gain  half 
a  day  on  them,"  said  McNally ;  "  for  in 

223 


«  '• 


REDNEY  McGWV 


the   light   of  the   moon  they'll   nkely 
enough  heave  to." 

But  driving  those  o\d  logging  trails 
a^  night  was  about  tl;  •  most  creepy, 
qualmy    business   that    Ked    had   ever 
been   engaged   in.     There    were   mile- 
long   stretches   where   there   might   a^s 
well  have  been  no  moon  at  all.     The 
trees  met  over  their  heads  and  timed 
the  road  into  a  tunnel  that  brisffed  with 
darkness.    Yet  in  the  blackest  places  of 
all  something  white  always  seemed  to 
come  quietly  out  of  the  busli  and  go 
sliding   along  beside  yru.     When  the 
silence   was  most   deathly,   you   could 
hear  it  making  low,  soughing  noises. 
And  when,  by  getting  up  all  his  nerve 
Red  had  made  himself  '   ok  the  other, 
^vay,  —  E-e-ee ! !  —  something  clammy- 
cold  would  leap  straight  fo'  his  face !      >^ 
course  next  moment  he  realixed  that  it 
was  only  another  cluster  of  low-hangini 
leaves.     But,  cats,  why  can't  next  mo 

224 


S(>ME  THKILLS  AN!     SHP'ERS 


ineiits  coiuo  ilrst  once  .11  »,  wliil  i 
Might  aa  wt  II  l^m  a  tvUah  as  scare  hiii 
to  death. 

And    Mc><uily  nnd  Coakeney  made 
thiii«;a  a  hundred  tines  worse  with  their 
stories.     Those  hi  >rie8  were  all  about 
ghostt^  and   dead    men     and  elephairs 
that  had  gont-  mad  and  become  man- 
killers.      And    when,      i    one   of  those 
tiuinel-likc   stretches,       )m   the  depths 
>f  the  woods  t  lere  went  up  a  fearful, 
)lood-^urd  ing  s<'reani,   which  in   r«  d- 
ity    came        m\    not  uug   more  ten 
than  aCaua  ia  ^    nx,  McNally  <     »ppt 
his    voice    to         hoarse    whisper,    and 
ije«2:an  to  tell  about  those  things     all    ^ 
'V  the  French  Canadians  loups  g 

creatures  said  to  be  part  ma  1 

part  wolf,  —  and  worse  than  any  wild 
animal  on  earth !  "A  visit  from  a  loup 
garouj'  he  said,  "  was  enough  to  send  a 
whole  lumber  camp  to  the  as\  ium.  In 
fact,  he  and  Coakeney  would  hav^  jeen 
15  225 


ii 


REDNEY  McGAW 


a  heap  sight  wiser  if  they  W  brouglit 
their  revolvers  alon-.  V>ut,  as  far  as 
that  was  concerned,  some  people  said 
that  no  powder  and  lead  was  any  use 
against  a  loup  garou.  Once  one  fas- 
tened onto  you,  and  got  well  started 
sucking  your  hlooa  — " 

"  WhaVs  thatr  Coakeney  and  Ele- 
phants both  clutched  at  Ked's  knees 
together.     He   ahnost  jumped   out   ot 

\\\a  akin ! 

And  then  both  those  low-down 
wretches  fell  back  and  haw-haw'd  till 
you'd  think  they'd  die  of  it!  And 
serve  them  just  about  right  if  they  had! 
Once   more   Red  saw   they  had  been 

jollying  him. 

nAh-hr'   he   said,   when  he   could 
articulate    at    all.      ^^  Ah-h,   you    silly 
gawps,  you !    Youse  think  you're  gettin 
me  leery,  don't  youse  I" 

Yet  it  was  not  two  hours  afterwards, 
—  and  when  they  were  none  of  them 

22G 


SOME  THRILLS  AND  SHIVERS 


listening,  —  that,  bringing  their  talk  to 
an  instant  stop,  they  did  hear  some- 
thing! They  halted  the  team  in  their 
tracks,  and  for  m'nute  after  miimte  sat 
rooted  and  unmoving. 

It  might  be  only  the  night  wind. 
But  from  that  yawning  blackness  away 
to  their  right  there  came  a  steady  rust- 
ling. And  every  little  while  there  fol- 
lowed a  crackle,  as  of  breaking  under- 
brush. Another  moment  and  one  of 
the  horses  flung  up  its  head  and  began 
to  rear. 

In  an  instant  Coakeney  was  on  the 
ground.  "  That 's  li'all  we  need  to 
know,"  he  said,  catching  at  the  head 
of  the  plunging  animal ;  "  an'  they  're 
jolly  well  comin'  our  way,  too." 

Red  and  McNally  jumped  out  after 
him. 

It  teas  the  nmaways!  It  was  not 
long  till  they  were  giving  evidence  that 
was  unmistakable. 

227 


RKDNEY  McGAW 


"  But  how  are  you  goiu'  to  get  hold 
ofthemr-  asked  Ked,  very  nervous  y 

"What'U  they  do  when  they  see  it  s 
"'!  Ho,"  said  Coakeney,  still  forced  to 

hang  to  the  horses  with  both  hands 
!^hI  these  -ere  beasts  that'll  give  the 

niost  trouble,-!  sh'd  s'y.     Never - 
Tever  know'd  the  Michigan  W  yet 

that  could   stand  to  meet  four  hele- 
phants  in  one  of  these  swamps  when 

*'^.ZTsrighCBldMcKally;"^ 
I  take  them  on  ahead,  Coaki  1  reckon 
that -11  save  us  time  in  the  long  run.      , 

..You  can't  take  'em  along  to«r  „% 
responded  Coakeney.    The  rustling  and 
crackling  in  that  outer  blackness  became 
:"^   moment  louder.    ;W'«\«^°" 
you    Red  1     Thinkin'   of  st'ym    with 

""'.Le."   said  Red.    But   never  did 
..sure"  more  plainly  mean   the   other 

228 


Tif^-rt 


SOME  THRILLS  AND  SHIVERS 


thing.     "Which  —  which  one  was  you 
wantin'  me  to  ketch  1 " 

Coakeney  bubbled.  "Well,  maybe 
we  can  settle  that  best  when  they  get 
a  bit  nearer." 

For  a  little  longer  he  merely  waited 
there.  Then  he  curved  his  hands  about 
his  mouth,  and  sent  forth  a  long  call : 
''Oh-hy-y,  Deva !     Tutt  cum  min/" 

And,  to  Red's  stupefaction,  they  be- 
gan to  "  cum  mill"  as  if  that  had  been 
the  one  thing  they'd  been  asking  the 
chance  to  do  for  the  last  three  days ! 

"Ho,  it's  some  good  byled  h'y  they're 
lookin'  for  tiozw,"  said  Coakeney,  as 
Deva's  great  bulk  broke  the  blackness, 
and  she  chugged  across  the  ditch  and 
up  upon  the  road.  The  other  three 
were  close  behind  her.  "  Ho,  yes,  — 
h'eyn't  that  the  truth,  you  old  fool,  you  1 
An'  they  're  willin'  to  risk  the  biggest 
lickm'  to  be  'ad  in  the  Show  to  get  it ! 
They've   'ad   enough   of  runnin'  aw'y 

229 


I 


REDNEY  McGAW 


'■  i 


now  to  last  them  a  barmy  ceutm-y! 
—Come  along,  Red.  No  need  for  us 
to  do  h'any  more  than  show  them  the 

road." 

Another  minute  and  the  four  ele- 
phants were  hurrying  along  behind  in 
a  guilty  double  shuffle. 

Of  the  unlimited  thrills  and  shivers 
which  Red  had  been  expecting  at  that 
capture,  he  had  been  most  comfortably 
disappointed.  For  two  or  three  miles 
he  tramped  it  with  Coakeney.  Then, 
at  the  brotherly  suggestion  of  the  latter, 
who  saw  how  tired  he  was,  he  struck 
on  ahead  and  climbed  back  into  the 
buckboard  with  McNally. 

There  had  been  no  thrills  and  shiv- 
ers at  the  moment  of  the  capture  itself. 
But  for  one  person,  at  any  rate,  in  that 
Southern  Peninsula  there  were  a  few 
new  ones  before  the  night  was  over.  A 
Uttle  before  dawn  the  fagged-out  caval- 
cade came  out  on  the  railroad  at  a  small 

230 


SOME  THRILLS  AND  SHIVERS 


way  station.  The  young  man,  who  was 
ticket-agent,  baggage-man,  and  tele- 
graph operator  all  in  one,  slept  in  a 
little  cubby-hole  behind  the  lamp-room. 
McNally  did  not  wait  for  Coakeney  and 
the  elephants.  He  rapped  him  up  and 
began  with  apologies  to  explain  that 
he'd  have  to  get  him  to  wire  head- 
quarters for  — 

He  had  got  so  far  when  he  was 
sworn  at;  and  the  young  man  went 
back  to  bed  again. 

As  patiently  as  wearily  McNally  set 
hunself  the  task  of  getting  him  up  a 
second  time;  and  having  done  so,  he 
started  to  repeat  his  explanation. 

He  got  no  further  than  he  had  at 

first;  and  this  time  he  was  sworn  at 

not  once,  but  with  effusion.    It  appeared 

that  the  young  man  had  been  out  late 

on  pleasure  the  night  before,  and  did  n't 

propose  to  get  up  now  till  the  down 

freight  came  through  at  ten.     The  flow 

231 


!  '1 


i'  •'  ^:j£»^v  m'  *'^m-«:fr 


REDHEY  McGAW 

of  profanity  with  which  he  accompanied 

this  declaration  lasted  till  he  was  agam 

in  bed  and  under  the  covers. 

"  All  right, "   said    Elephants,      aU 

right!  Some  people  you  can  talk  to 
one  way  and  some  you've  got  to  m 
another.  In  your  case  I  guess  it  U  be 
up  to  us  to  give  you  the  hand-shake 
with  one  finger.     Only  I  hate  to  do  xt, 

"°He  plodded  back  through  the  soft 
tan  bark  of  the  station  yard  to  where 
Coakeney  was  waiting  in  the  shadows 
up  the  road.  And  when  he  returned 
to  that  open  bedroom  window  it  was 
with  Deva.  Pointh.g  to  the  window, 
"  You  fetch  him  out,  old  girl,"  he  said, 
"  and  fetch  him  out  f/ood." 

As  if  it  were  an  "  act"  she  had  been 
doing  all  her  life,  her  trunk  licked 
silently  in  over  the  sash.  And  a  mo- 
ment later  it  produced  something.  " 
produced   a   screech,  — a  screech  that 

2:i2 


SOME  THRILLS  AND  SHIVERS 


must  have  made  the  best  efforts  of  any 
loup  garou  or  even  of  Cut  Nose  in  the 
freak  car  sound  like  the  cooing  of  a 
love  bird.  It  was  a  screech,  too,  that 
went  on  interruptedly  amid  the  over- 
turning of  furniture  and  the  breaking 
of  crockery  for  the  next  two  minutes. 
And  then,  having  made  her  grip  sure 
at  last,  Deva  "  fetched  him  out." 

The  message,  inexpUcably  shaken  in 
its  delivery,  which  shortly  afterwards 
began  to  arrive  at  division  end,  called 

in   a    "three-nine"    rush  —  for    the 

immediate  sending  of  an  emergency 
engine  and  two  "  opens."  And  it  con- 
tinued to  call  for  them,  at  five-minute 
intervals,  until  they  were  on  the  way. 
Indeed,  in  Michigan  railroad  circles  that 
messpjxe  still  stands  as  the  most  urgent 
ever  sent  down  the  line. 

Of  the  following  twelve  hours  Red 
could  have  told  only  the  most  frag- 
mentary story.     He  was  half  dead  for 

233 


ai 


^^^'•mf 


il 


REDNEY  McGAW 

sleep.  When  for  a  few  minutes  he 
did  wake  up,  he  was  again  lying  beside 
McNally.  But  this  time  they  were  m 
the  end  of  an  open  freight  car,  on  a  bed 
of  fragrant  spruce  and  tamarack.  And 
they  had  just  pulled  out  for  Chicago. 

Deva,  not  tied  in  any  way  whatever, 
was    standing   with   her  head  toward 
them.     And  after  a  time  she  reached 
out    shamefacedly   and    snuggled    her 
trunk  up  under  Elephants'  arm.      ^  ^  ^ 
"  Oh,  that  '8  all  right  now,  old  gin, 
he  said ;  "  that 's  all  right  for  you.   You 
needn't  try  any  soft-solderin'  at  all.-- 
But  maybe,"  and  he  gave  her  "  finger 
a  Uttle  pinch,  —  "  maybe  if  you  see  that 
that  lad  behind  you  don't  fall  out  or  do 
us  any  mischief,  maybe   all  'U  be  for- 
given yet."  . 

Then  Red  went  off  to  sleep  again  as  it 
he  were  in  the  old  "  Newsies  "  Lodging 
House,  and  slept  for  seven  hours  more. 


234 


.■^^^^^■: 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  LAST  OF  FAT 

Is  it  possible  for  one  to  have  too  many 
adventures  for  one's  truest  happiness  f 
Even  while  answering  this  question  Red 
has  one  more,  and  Fat  takes  some  lessons 
in  gymnastics. 

THEY  reached  West  Chicago  anc" 
found  the  lot  just  in  time  to  get  to 
the  cook  tent  before  supper  was  over. 
The  Big  Show  was  blithely  and  serenely- 
unchanged.  It  looked  as  if  it  had 
never  known  a  blow-down  or  an  ele- 
phant stampede  in  all  its  existence. 
The  band  was  agam  playing  llake  a 
Noise  like  a  Hoop  and  Roll  Away. 
You  might  have  believed  that  it  had 
gone  straight  on  playing  it  since  the 
night  Ked  had  heard  it  last  from  Deva's 

back! 

235 


REDNEY  McGAW 


And  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  Red 
felt  that  it  showed  a  very  little  feeling, 
especially  as  the  Miillers  were  going  to 
leave.  He  liad  been  thinking  about 
them  more  than  any  one  else.  And  he 
wanted  to  see  Big  Heinie  right  away. 

They  were  n't  on  the  lot,  the  costume 
man  mformed  him.  But  neither  had 
they  left  the  Show  as  yet,  and  they 
couldn't  for  some  time  They  were 
living  at  a  boarding-house  with  the  rest 
of  the  Saxon  Samsons  and  some  Ger- 
man trapeze  people.  The  place  was 
two  blocks  straight  over,  on  K  Street. 
It  was  just  at  the  corner,  and  he'd 
know  it  by  the  upper  veranda;  most 
likely  his  friends  would  be  sitting  out 
in  it  at  that  minute.  "  And  say,"  he 
shouted  after  Red,  "  there 's  two  new 
members  in  the  Saxon  Samsons. 
They  're  the  biggest  thing  in  the  Show 
just  now.     Only  they  ain't  on  salary 

yet." 

230 


THE  LAST  OF  FAT 


Two  new  members  1  —  The  biggest 
thing  m  the  Sho,,  and  not  on  salary 
yet  1  —  Now  what  did  the  costume  man 
mean  by  that  1  But  Red  did  n't  try  to 
figure  it  out  then.  It  was  enough  to 
learn  that  the  MuUers  would  be  staying 
on  for  a  while  longer  anyway,  —  that  he 
would  n't  be  getting  back  from  that  ele- 
phant hunt  only  in  time  to  say  good- 
bye to  them. 

The  truth  was,  altogether  too  much 
had  been  happening  of  late.  He  had 
always  felt,  of  course,  that  a  circus  was 
a  place  where  more  things  can  happen 
in  a  week  than  you  generally  get  in  a 
lifetime.  But  in  that  last  week  things 
had  piled  up  on  him  so  fast  that  he 
couldn't  sort  them  out.  He  wanted 
time  to  sit  down  somewhere  and  think 
for  a  day  or  two  and  kind  of  catch  us. 
In  the  matter  of  adventures,  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life,  he  felt  that  he  had  had 
his  fill.     No  use  a  man's  being  scared 

237 


)  ii 


I* 


n^k';" 


REDNEY  McOAW 


to  death  every  day.  It  seemed  to  him 
that  he'd  be  content  to  go  alon^  fc- 
several  months  now  and  have  no  .aore 
at  all.  Or,  better  still,  what  he  wanted 
was  some  place  like  Spider's,  where  you 
could  go  out  and  get  an  adventure  once 
in  a  while,  but  where  they  were  n't  ever- 
lastingly coming  at  you. 

But  even  as  he  was  having  these  very 
wise  reflections,  the  law  of  mysterious 
chance  had  moved  again,  and  one  final 
adventure  was  "coming  at  him"  then 
and  there. 

The  two  blocks  between  the  show 
grounds  and  K  Street  were  almost  taken 
up  with  low  cheap  saloons.  And  as  he 
got  their  sour  and  rancid  odors  through 
their  wicker  swinging  doors,  there  came 
back  to  him  that  afternoon  in  Buffalo 
when  he  stood  in  front  of  a  saloon  wait- 
ing for  Fat  and  Cut  Nose.  He  guessed, 
with  a  return  of  all  his  power  to  grin, 
that  The  Big  Show  wouldn't  see  Cut 

238 


.LPKP     IIOll 


THE  LAST  OF   FAT 


Nose  again,  —  not  while  a  pair  otMapan- 
ese  Twins  named  Togo  and  Nogo  were 
travelling  with  it.  But  Fat  had  been 
going  to  Chicago,  and  he  might  still  be 
snooping  aromid.     If  he  was  — 

The  b.  loon  door  he  was  just  passing 
swung  opcii,  and  Fat  came  out  of  it! 

There  was  one  staring,  dazing  mo- 
ment of  recognition.     Then,  —  perhaps 
it  was  the  sight  of  Red's  grin,  —  all  the 
pain  of  his  stone  bruises  came  back  to 
Fat  in  one  consuming  flame.     With  a 
bellow  he  flung  himself  to  grip  him. 
And  Red's  grin,  for  all  its  vitality,  froze 
to  death.     As  he  turned  he  tried  to  yell, 
but  he  could  n't  .-^lem  to  get  the  sounds 
out.     He  almost  fell  back  into  the  road. 
He  dodged  a  push-rart  and  a  string  of 
coal  wagons.     And,  teeling  Fat  gaining 
on  him  every  moment,  he  put  all  the 
strength  that  was  in  him  into  a  one- 
hope  rush  for  K  Street. 

It  was  not  yet  seven,  and  therefore 

239 


REDNEY  McGAW 


still  quite  light.  As  the  costume  man 
had  prophesied,  the  Saxon  Sarnsons 
were  sitting  out  in  that  upper  veranda. 
Another  minute  and  they  were  gaping 
over  the  side  of  it.  Followed  by  such 
a  voice  of  infuriate  pursuit  as  might 
have  come  from  a  whole  pack  of  hunt- 
ing dogs,  Mr.  Red  McGaw  had  clashed 
sliding  around  the  corner  below  them ! 
He  looked  about  him  for  one  choking 
half  jifiy,  then  fled  up  the  steps  and  into 
the  open  front  door.  And  now  those 
Saxon  Samsons  saw  that  behind  him 
came  one  of  that  pair  of  misguided  or- 
ganizers of  trouble  whom  they  had  liad 
the  pleasure  of  dealing  with  several 
weeks  before,  in  Buffalo ! 

And  they  felt  quite  equal  to  dealing 
with  this  present  gentleman  again.  If 
Cut  Nose's  parting  visit  to  Bij>'  Show 
circles  had  been  unexampled  in  its 
painfulness,  Fat'h    was,  if  anything,  to 

be  rather  more   so. 

240 


m  ■  •*>^?*;. 


THE  LAST  OF  FAT 


Red  plunged  into  the  open  door  — 
Fat  followed.  Half-way  up  the  stairs 
he  followed,  too.  But  he  got  no 
further. 

That  is  to  say,  he  got  no  further  on 
his  own  feet.  The  company  from  the 
upper  veranda  had  rushed  into  the  up- 
stairs hall.  And  just  as  Fat's  hands 
were  upon  Red's  ankles,  Ludwig  bent 
himself  swiftly  backward  and  down  over 
the  banister  directly  above  them.  He 
buckled  himself  to  it  with  a  "  knee-and- 
bock  cinch."  His  large  white  hands 
closed  upon  Fat's  shoulders.  He 
jerked  him  a  yard  into  the  air  as  if  he 
had  been  a  sack  of  clothes,  and  then 
gave  him  the  "  lightning  tium-over." 

Fat  yelled  like  a  man  ^ho  has  lost 
his  grip  upon  this  whirling  earth. 

But  if  he  believed  that  he  was  going 

to  break  his  neck  when  he  came  down 

again,  he  was  at  any  rate  wrong  in  that. 

Big  Heiuie  had  now  reached  the  bottom 

M  241 


REDNEY  McGAW 


of  tlie  stiiirs,  and  was  waiting  only  till 
the  flying  Fat  felt  ready  to  descend. 

The  great  Saxon  caught  him  on  the 
drop,  and  in  his  turn  g?ive  him  that 
"  lightning  turn-over,"  —  this  time  back- 
icards.  "  Circusses  —  iss  —  demble  — 
dangerous  —  blaces,"  he  said  most  con- 
cernedly. "  If  you  ain'd  gareful,  — 
sometime  you  sgare  our  frient  Ued  !  " 

Then  Big  Ileinie  "  cartwheeled  "  Fat 
through  the  lower  hall,  down  the  steps, 
and  out  upon  wiiat  had  formerly  been  a 
grass  ])lot  beside  the  area.  "  Maguo  a 
rittise  ligue  a  hoop  and  roll  away,  roll 
p  way,  roll  away !  "  he  chanted,  panting. 
'^Aher,  no  doubt  j'ou  haf  come  back 
to  take  some  yimnastic  lessons,  yess  ?  " 

And  he  delivered  him  over  to  the 
eagerly  hovering  Uustav  and  Franz. 

One  on  each  side,  they  took  him 
"wing  and  hip,"  and  shot  him  heels 
over  head.  He  lit  on  his  feet,  it  is  true, 
but  he  was  not   to   waste  any  time  in 

212 


^ 


s 

► 


3a« 

I 


^^vtr.^ft-tAwvn&iA  "fflM-»',Mrtfc''^lr'iiivjiifmMiiW 


THE  LAST   OF  FAT 


that  position.  Again  and  again  they 
flipped  him  over,  faster  and  faster,  till 
he  fairly  spun. 

"  Dass  iss  *  tumin'  spotters '  called," 
explanied  Big  Heinie,  "  und  you  do  it 
sehr  gooL  In  two  free  weeks  you 
know  a  lot !  Shall  we  now  mit  der  *  re- 
volving barrel '  begin  1 " 

He  dropped  upon  his  back,  swung  his 
feet  into  the  air,  caught  Fat  almost  as 
deftly  upon  his  canvas  soles  as  if  that 
hapless  wight  had  been  the  parti- 
colored barrel  of  the  circus  ring  itself, 
and  "  tossed  him  for  position." 

By  this  time  there  was  an  audience 
on  all  sides  that  blocked  the  street.  An 
audience,  however,  was  only  inspiration 
and  encouragement  to  the  Saxon  Sam- 
sons. Ludwig  had  dropped  upon  his 
back  opposite  Big  Heinie.  And  now 
the  two  began  to  "  play  catch "  with 
Fat. 

But  just  at  that  juncture,    a   large, 

24.J 


REDNEY  McGAW 


red-haired,  and  gaping  policeman  broke 
through  the  crowd.  His  club  was  in 
his  hand,  but  he  almost  let  it  fall. 
"  Will,  in  the  name  o'  the  Great  Bog 
of  Athlone !  "  he  gasped. 

The  two  recumbent  Saxon  Samsons 
rose  to  their  feet.  But  Fat  did  not. 
He  conthmed  to  sit  there,  still  feeling 
himself  revolving,  "  turning  spotters," 
domg  the  *'  lightning  turn-over."  And 
he  sank  his  fingers  into  the  poil  as  if 
he  never  intended  to  let  go  of  it. 

"  Will  yez  jist  till  me  what  it  manes, 
new  1 "  repeated  the  policeman. 

"Ach,"  said  Big  Heinie,  spreading  his 
hands,  "  we  wass  all  yoost  havhig  some 
friently  pnks  togedder,  —  for  diges- 
tion's help."  And  he  beamed  upon 
him    pacifyingly. 

'"Frindly  yinks  ! '  —  I  can  see  by 
him  howfri'ndly  it  was!  I  'vo  a  mind 
to  land  the  whole  gang  of  yez  in  the 

cooler! " 

244 


«mv».K  a 


.1  ■•.-ii'.'rrfT-  ;  •  .'.« 


*P 


w 


THE  LAST  OF  FAT 


Fat  was  beginninjjj  to  get  ])ack  his 
senses  again ;  and,  for  tlic  first  time, 
he  found  himself  regarding  a  shite-blue 
coat  and  brass  buttons  as  emblems  of 
protection. 

"  Youse  can  take  me  just  the  quickest 
youse  can,"  he  said,  swallowing  wind  in 
gulps.  "  Anything  as  long  as  youse 
get  me  away  from  this  bunch!" 

"  Take  youse !  An'  who 's  been 
makin'  a  charge  ag'in'  ye  ?  T  'm  thinkin' 
it 's  for  youse  to  make  it  ag'in'  t/iim ! " 

"  Ya,"  said  Big  Hoinie,  again  ;  "  we 
wass  all  great  sinners  togedder." 

And  then,  as  Fat  gazed  at  those 
lariie,  child-like  German  faces,  his  own 
gradually  filled  with  another  exi)rcssion. 
He  saw  more  and  more  plainly  that  if 
he  was  to  be  given  over  to  what  we  call 
justice,  it  would  never  be  by  them,  nor 
by  Red,  eitlu'r,  now  standing  beside 
them.  .  .  .  Very  well  did  lie  remember 
that  day  at  the  spider- work  trestle  in 

21:) 


KEDNEY  McOAW 


those  Pennsylvania  hills.  Very  well, 
too,  did  he  remember  a  great  many 
other  things  which  should  have  regis- 
tered black  marks  against  him. 

But,  "Ach,"  Big  Heinie  was  dep- 
recr''n<\  "we're  not  goin'  to  sboil 
der  tun  alretty.  You  yoost  come 
inside  mit  us,  und  talk  about  dmgs  a 
leedle." 

Frankly,  the  result  was  another  case 
of  justice  defeated  and  the  law  set 
shamefully  at  naught. 

"  Und  so,"  Big  Heinie  called  in  fare- 
well after  Fat  at  last,  "  you  yoost  go 
along  now,  und  stop  der  trinkin'  und 
be   goot!      Ain't   dot   what  you    say. 

Red  1 " 

"Sure!"  glowed  Red,  and  he  felt  a 
wonderful  relief  "Sure!  An'  y'  see, 
Fat,  I  knowed  that  you  ain't  never 
been  so  bad,  right  all  the  time." 

And  if  mankind  really  lost  anything 

24() 


??B8SP5?^^^^^ 


K-V- 


\,.;n. . 


THE  liAST  OF  FAT 


because  0"e  bruised  and  dusty  and 
world-battered  mortal  was,  desi)ite  all 
his  inicjuities,  given  another  chance,  we 
have  never  heard  any  complaint  of  it 
as  yet. 


v^ 


247 


CHAPTER  XX 


TWO    ARRIVALS 


The  new  memherH  of  the  Saxon  S(tmson 
troupe;  f/niif  fmbarrassments  and  diffi- 
culties; and  the  G.  M.  shows  the  r>nl 
depths  of  his  yenius  in  the  solution 
thereof. 

THE  costume  man  had  said  that  there 
were  now  two  new  memV)ers  in  the 
8axon  Samson  troupe.  And  that  night 
Red  made  their  ac(iuaintance. 

In  the  first  i)hice,  when  he  S})oke  of 
wliat  the  costume  man  had  told  him 
and  asked  who  those  two  new  memhers 
were,  all  the  Saxon  Samsons  he  already 
knew  boomed  out  at  once  int*;  roars  of 
deep-chested  German  laupiiter.  They 
pummeled  ta^h  other  hilariously,  and 
cauj/ht   Red   in  the  tloating  ribs,   and 

248 


i^r 


TWO  ARRIVALS 


tried  to  above  each  other  over  the  chairs, 
and  acted  more  and  more  as  if  it  were 
simply  the  biggest  joke  that  had  ever 

got  loose. 

At  least  all  of  them  acted  so  save 
Midget  Hans.  And  upon  him  there 
settled  a  mantle  of  gloom  that  nothing 
whatever  seemed  to  have  the  power  to 

lift! 

Red  was  once  more  trying  hopelessly 
to  figure  it  out,  when  those  ecstatic 
Samsons  finally  decided  to  enlighten 
him.  lie  was  taken  up  to  two  rooms 
on  the  third  floor  back,  and  introduced. 

In  the  arms  of  a  stout  Gennan- 
American  girl  sat  unquestionably  the 
roundest,  ^vbitc8t-headed,  and  most  vig- 
orous year-old  baby  in  existence. 

It  was  **  leedle  Ifeinie" ! 

"  Und  it  wass  he  dot  made  her  bring 
him ! "  cried  his  exulting  sire  from  the 
summit  of  his  pride.  "  Two  days  ago 
abetty  he  haf  resolved  he  should  no 

240 


ta&i»f*t  -'^KKTit 


.^sar.^,...- 


'jt-..  *.-■%"  .'^\ 


'M  IQ..*;    -awsMip-*!;? 


1.0 


i.l 


Hi 


m 

lU 


1^ 

lAO 


2.5 

III 

2.0 
1.8 


MICROCOPY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

NATIONAL  BUREAU  OF  STANDARDS 

STANDARD  REFERENCE  MATERIAL  1010a 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


REDNEY  McGAW 


longer  parted  from  his  elters  be.  Und 
he  yoost  yell  und  gick  und  roll  der  florr 
upon  till  Elsa  allerdings  gif  oop,  und 
bring  him  by  Chicago !  " 

And,  in  the  room  behind,  not  to  be 
moved  out  of  her  straight-backed  chah 
by  the  riotous  and  unseemly  conduct  of 
a  hundred  Saxon  Samsons,  sat  the 
leanest,  grayest,  most  masterful  look- 
ing old  lady,  wearing  the  highest  horn 
comb  and  the  biggest  horn  spec- 
tacles ever  seen  out  of  Altmiinster- 
stadt. 

It  was  Hans'  great-gra7idmother  / 

She  had  arrived  not  ten  hours  after 
"  leedle  Heinie."  And  though  she  had 
found  friends  on  the  way,  how  she  had 
got  through  the  immigration  office  was 
yet  to  be  discovered! 

But  this  much  was  known.  It  was 
no  mere  chance  that  had  brought  her. 
She  had  begun  to  pack  her  belongings 
the  day  she  had  received  Hans'  letter 

250 


TWO  ARRIVALS 


telling  how  he  had  been  made  to  fight 
with  Red.  And  in  the  first  minutes 
after  her  arrival  she  explained  her 
coming  clearly. 

She  gave  the  one  solemn  and  digni- 
fied member  of  the  Saxon  Samson 
troupe  to  know  that  she  had  promised 
his  grandmother  ever  and  always  a 
constant  care  over  him  to  take;  and 
since  she  could  no  longer  do  it  firom 
Altmiinsterstddt,  that  care  over  him 
to  continue  she  had  come  even  to 
America  out! 

And,  after  a  speech  like  that,  can 
you  wonder  now  at  the  gloom  that 
darkened  and  embittered  the  counte- 
nance of  Hans  1  When,  for  more  than 
two  years,  you  have  done  your  work 
under  the  respon  —  responiss  —  when 
every  day  and  hour  you  have  thought 
thereon  of  what  it  means  to  have  a 
great-grandmrther  to  take  care  of,  what 
is  there  to  be  said  when,  at  the  end  of 

251 


REDNEY  McGAW 


it,  you  discover  that,  as  she  has  been 
viewing  it  all  along,  it  is  she  who  has 
been  taking  care  of  youf  Earth  has 
many  sources  of  embitterment.  But 
let  us  be  thankful  that  few  of  us  can 
know  any  such  bitterness  as  that! 

More,  too : 

Both  "  leetle  Heinie "  and  Hans' 
great-grandmother  had  joined  them- 
selves to  The  Big  Show  without  giving 
any  due  warning  and  notice.  And  in 
consequence  there  presented  itself  the 
question  of  what  was  to  be  done  with 
them.  Doubly  to  complicate  the  busi- 
ness, too,  both  of  them  had  very  plainly 
given  notice  that  the  objects  of  their 
anxiety  must  at  once  abandon  the  cir- 
cus profession!  And  signed  contracts 
can  hardly  be  broken  in  half  an 
hour. 

It  was  the  wisdom  of  the  G.  M.  that 
now  entered  in.  As  a  Solomon,  a  man 
of   innumerable   emergencies,    and    an 

252 


TWO  ARRIVALS 


indulgent  Providence  all  in  one,  he 
settled  those  baffling  questions  to  the 
satisfaction  absolutely  of  every  one ! 

To  begin  with,  he  recognized  the 
inevitable.  He  did  not  argue  the  mat- 
ter, but  commenced  immediately  to  cast 
about  for  substitutes  for  Mrs.  Miiller 
and  Big  Heinie  and  Hans. 

In  the  second  place,  he  took  into  con- 
sideration the  fact,  well  known  to  every 
one,  that  for  Hans  to  part  from  the 
Miillers  would  be  like  saying  good-bye 
to  a  father  and  mother.  And  therefore 
it  began  to  be  entirely  evident  to  him 
that  what  the  Miillers  had  been  need- 
ing in  their  business  from  the  begin- 
ning was  a  great-grandmother  I  For 
that  matter,  too,  here  was  a  great- 
grandmother  ^ho  would  undoubtedly 
ins^  ^t  upop  paying  her  own  way !  And 
he  called  all  concerned  before  him,  and 
laid  before   them   certain   suggestions. 


herein  to  follow: 


253 


REDNEY  McGAW 


They,  the  Miillers,  had  said  that  they 
wanted  to  take  up  farming  out  West. 
But    they    had    no    settled    idea   just 
where  and  how.     Well,  he,  the  G.  M. 
for  his  part  believed  that  he  could  count 
upon  having  their  substitutes  with  The 
Big  Sliow  by  the  time  it  made  Dubuque. 
According  to   Mr.   Red  McGaw,   Du- 
buque was  the  place  where  he  was  aim- 
ing to  get  off.     And,  as  it  happened 
near  Dubuque  there  was  a  big  German 
farming  settlement.     Was  not  Sonnen- 
schein  the  name  of  the  people  Red  was 

going  to  1 

That  waii  their  very  German  name. 
And,  again  according  to  Red,  they  were 
mighty  swell  nice  people  at  that ! 

Well  then,  pursued  the  G.  M.,  in 
all  probability  from  those  same  Sonnen- 
scheins  the  Miillers  could  get  exactly 
the  kind  of  advice  and  information  that 
they  needed.  If,  then,  they  would  just 
go   along  to   Dubuque  thi-   way  they 

254 


TWO  ARRIVALS 


were,  —  aod  after  they  left  Chicago  it 
would  mean  only  three  days  for  "  leedle 
Hemic  "  and  great-grandmother  Sohraer 
to  make  shift,  on  the  circus  sleepers,  — 
tiie  ]Vx.   thought   that   in    the   end 

every  uv^Jy  would  be  suited  beautiftdly ! 

The  Mullers  were  suited.  They 
wanted  the  G.  M.  to  know  that  they 
had  made  up  their  minds  to  adopt 
Hans  and  Hans'  great-grandmother 
days  ago.  And  then  they  came  back 
and  expressed  another  desire.  They 
wanted  to  take  Red  in  with  them  as 
well! 

One  might  almost  have  thought  that 
the  G.  M.  was  expecting  that!  And, 
in  the  afternoon,  he  called  Red  in  and 
put  the  matter  to  him. 

Would  he  go  in  —  would  he  go  in 
with  the  Miillers!  It  was  a  question 
which  Mr.  McGaw  never  really  an- 
swered, as  far  as  mere  words  were  con- 
cerned, at  all !     It  was  minutes  till  he 

255 


REDNEY  McGAW 


could  even  smile  \  —  ^^Say!  —  Say  I  If 
the  Miillers  could  only  find  a  farm 
Bomewheres  near  where  Spider  was,  he 
wouldn't  even  want  to  travel  with  The 
Big  Show  no  more ! " 


256 


CHAPTER  XXI 


FAREWELL 

Dubuque:  Red  receives  a  letter  which  has 
manifestly  come  from  every  quarter  of 
the  inhabited  globe;  enters  into  financial 
arrangements  with  Mrs.  Midler;  is  ad- 
vanced to  the  highest  position  in  The 
Big  Show;  attends  a  box  party  with 
some  friends  both  new  and  old,  and  says 
good-bye. 

rilHEY  were  in  Dubuque,  and  it  was 
-*-  Red's  last  day  on  the  lot.  Spider 
would  be  in  town,  there  could  be  no 
doubt  about  that,  but  he  would  hardly 
arrive  much  before  the  parade.  And 
in  the  meantime  there  were  about  five 
hundred  people  to  say  good-bye  to. 

Now,  ever  suice  he  had  had  that  rock 
fight  with  Fat  away  back  in  Pennsyl- 
vania,—  "and,  skids,  that  wasn't  any- 
17  257 


REDNEY  McGAW 


thin^^!"  — two  or  three  times  a  day 
somebody  bad  hinted  to  hhn  about 
something  that  was  goin-  to  happen 
when  they  reached  Dubuque. 

And  now  — which  was  a  great  deal 
more  puzzUng- —  everybody  he  started 
to  say  good-by  V  to  asked  him  if  he  had 
seen  the  Show  postman  yet  1 

What  would  he  be  seeing  the  post- 
man fori  There  wasn't  any  one  to 
write  to  him  but  Spider,  and  he  had 
never  let  him  know  that  he  was  travel- 
ing with  the  Show.  Indeed  there  had 
been  times  enough  when,  seeing  let.-^rs 
coming  for  everybody  else  but  him,  he 
had  had  moments  of  that  sort  of  home- 
sickness which  you  can  only  feel  if  you 
have  never  had  any  home  at  all. 

So  when  the  Flying  Florios,  and 
Coakeney,  and  the  Man  Monkey,  and 
Togo  and  Nogo,  and  twenty  other 
people  all  told  him  that  the  postman 
was  looking  for  him,  he  said,  "  Ah,  go 

258 


■*     jt 


to 
o 


' 


FAREWELL 


)n,  now,  youfio  can't  jolly  me  that  way ! " 
And  when  he  did  meet  the  postman,  he 
began  suspiciously  to  back  away. 

But  the  postman  had  a  letter  for  him. 
The  address  was  plain : 

Robert  Emmet  loNATir    McGaw, 
VoThe  Greatest  Show  on  Earth, 

America. 

And  what  a  letter ! 

The  envelope  was  half  as  big  as  a 
pillow-case.  It  was  fairly  covered  and 
plastered  over  with  stamps.  And  they 
were  not  American  stamps  only,  but 
EngUsh,  French,  and  German,  Italian, 
Russian,  Spanish,  and  Jr  ^ane^^e ;  like  all 
the  mixed  but  kindly  population  of  The 
Big  Show  itself,  they  came  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe !  What  was  even 
ixiore  peculiar,  no  two  canceling  dates 
corresponded.  It  was,  in  short,  the 
most  remarkable  letter  that  came 
through  the  mails,  or  didn't! 

259 


REDNEY  McGAW 


And  its  contents !  There  were,  first, 
five  crinkly  new  fifty-dollar  bills  from 
the  Management.  Of  fives  and  tens 
there  were  at  least  a  dozen.  And  as 
for  ones  and  twos,  that  pillow-case 
envelope  was  stuffed  as  full  of  them 
as  any  pillow  ever  was  with  feathers. 
And,  enwrapping  all,  was  a  double  sheet 
of  foolscap  which  bore  this  legend,  in 
the  handwriting  of  Elephants  McNally : 

From  The  Big  Show 

to  Red  McGaw, 

who  held  the  fort, 

and  who 

for  about  six  weeks 

has  never  stopped  wearing 

One  of  the  best  things  we  know  of  under  the  blue  sky, 

The  Smile  That  Won't  Come  Off! 

"Ah,  say," said  Red,  some  half-hour 
later, —  and  he  was  at  that  moment 
beaming  like  a  whole  constellation  of 
guns,  —  "I  don't  know  as  I  ever  smiled 

so  much." 

260 


FAREWELL 


He  was  still  attempting  to  hold  the 
point  in  argument,  when  a  messenger 
from  the  head  office  called  him  m  to 
another  audience  with  the  G.  M. 

And  the  G.  M.  had  called  him  solely 
with  the  idea  of  taking  that  money 
away  again. 

Or,  to  be  more  accurate,  he  had  de- 
cided to  appoint  Mrs.  MuUer  temporary 
receiver  and  trustee.  She  and  her  man 
were  already  there,  waiting  beside  the 
G.  M.'s  desk. 

And,  "  Tell  me,"  the  G.  M.  was  ask- 
mg  her,  as  Red  came  in,  "  what  do  you 
do  with  this  small  boy's  coin?"  He 
kneaded  his  fingers  mto  Big  Heinle's 
titanic  shoulders. 

"  I  put  him  all  into  der  Bank  for  Sav- 
ings," Mrs.  Miiller  responded  with  de- 
cision.    And    then,   more   feeUngly,— 
"  But  I  let  him  haf  a  leedle  from  der 
interest  for  tobacco." 

"Excellent!"    said    the    G.    M.; 

261 


BEDNEY  McGAW 

"only  instead  of  money  for  tobacco^ I 
think  it  would  be  advisable  to  aUow  Mr. 
McGaw.  here,  a  certain  amount  for  fish- 
ing; tackle  and  so  on,  in  season  While 
I  think  of  it.  too,  I  don't  know  but  what 
_  if  there  are  any  black  panthers  loose 
in  the  neighborhood,  - 1  don't  know  but 
what  he  11  have  to  have  a  gun. 

And  then,  since  it  was  to  be  Keds 
last  day  with  them,  he  bestowed  upon 
him  a  privilege  that  was  the  highest 
evTn  inL  bestowal  of  The  Big  Show. 

About  eleven  that  morning.  Mr. 
"Spider"  Madigan,  brown  with  good 
Iowa  tan,  had  climbed  twenty  feet  up  a 
telegraph  pole  near  the  City  Hall,  and 

was  taHng  in  the  endless  splendid  fasci- 
nations of  "  The  Grand  Pageant  and 
Street  Parade."  There  were  many  cir- 
cus people  in  that  parade  that  he  would 
have  given  a  year  or  two  of  life  to  be. 
There  was  Madam  Rosalinda,  the  Uon 

202 


FAREWELL 


tamer,  sitting  in  the  midst  of  a  cage  of 
them.  There  was  the  man  in  the  uni- 
form of  a  royal  Indian  Jemadar,  walking 
beside  the  biggest  of  the  elephants. 
There  was  Sphnters,  "  the  King  of  the 
Clowns."  But  all  these  became  as  noth- 
ing when  the  forty-horse  band-wagon 
swung  into  view ! 

Those  horses!  —  Four  abreast,  ten 
deep,  every  one  flecklessly  cream-white, 
and  all,  wave  on  wave,  tossing  their  red 
and  gold  harness  as  if  they  were  draw- 
ing the  chariot  of  an  emperor!  Li  the 
year  he  had  been  farming  "  Spider  "  had 
learned  about  horses,  and  he  knew 
that  all  America  could  not  produce 
another  such  forty.  He  had  learned 
the  feeling,  too,  of  sitting  behind  even 
one  blooded  animal.  What,  then,  must 
be  the  feelings  of  the  man  who  'd  got 
the  job  of  driving  those !  "  Crimminy!  " 
he  breathed,  '*  I  bet  he  don't  think  he 's 
the  nifty  lad,  or  anything !  " 

2G3 


There  were  two  people  on  the  gilded 
box.  But,  as  the  "forty-horse  made 
Jhe  corner,  the  smaller  one  was  handed 
the  ribbons  And,  perched  up  the  e 
Ive  that  great  swan  "float"  and  ^ts 

fifty  glittering  bandsmen,  he  looked 
such  a  little  gaffer!  ...  He  was  a 
Me  gaffer,  too.  He  wasn't  any  big- 
g",  and  he  was  just  about  the  omld 

%der  stared  again.-.«t««d  till  his 
mouth  became  one  prodigious  0,  and 
he  all  but  fell  from  Ws  telegraph  pole. 
That  little  gaffer  was  not  merely  just  the 
size  and  build  of  Red  McGaw.  Oee.-- 
Qee\-lt  was  Red  McGaw  himself! 

At  the  afternoon  performance  in  Du- 
buque sat  two  box  parties,  mvited  by 
special  request  of  the  management.  1  he 
le  consLd  of  Messrs.  McGaw  and 
M^digan,  now  after  many  adventmres 
Tuast  united,  and  the  latter-  farmmg 

2G4 


FAREWELL 


friends  and  Foster  paren  s,  the  Sonnen- 
scheins.  In  the  other  party  were  Hans 
and  his  great- grandmother,  Mrs.  Miilier, 
Miss  Elsa  Miilier,  and  "  leedle  Heinle." 

But  it  must  be  acknowledged  that 
two  of  those  highly  honored  guests  did 
not  appear  to  be  enjoying  "The  World's 
Greatest  Circus  anu  Ihree  Ring  Hippo- 
drome "  at  all. 

After  the  first  half-minute  Hans' 
great-grandmother  joined  her  hands, 
shut  her  horr^ed  eyes  firmly  behind 
her  horn  spec  es,  and  refused  to  open 
them  again  till  the  last  '-turn"  of  the 
last  act  had  been  concluded! 

As  for  "leedle  Heinie,"  he  had  al- 
ready rescued  his  mother  from  the  show 
business  and  had  her  safely  beside  him. 
3ut  that  tremendous  father  of  his,  be- 
cause of  the  slowness  of  his  substitute, 
could  not  be  spared  till  the  day  follow- 
ing. And  now,  as  time  after  time  Big 
Heinie   came   strangely  into  view,  re- 

2G5 


J?^''*-- 


REDNEY  McGAW 

mained  for  a  few  mysterious  minutes,  and 
then  as  suspiciously  disappeared  agam, 
"leedle  Heinie's"  face  filled  with  a  con- 
cern which  every  moment  became  more 
anxiously  intense.     In  all  his  thirteen 
months  he  had  never  seen  any  circus 
performance  that  he  had  enjoyed  le3S. 
And    when,   in    the  final    "  act,'    Big 
Heinie    whirled    thunderously    around 
the  ring  in  his  flying  Roman  chanot 
with   three   other  Roman   chariots   all 
fearfully  pursuing  him,  "  leedle  Heinie 
could  abide  the  sight  no  longer      He 
burst  into  roars  and  howls  which  said 
in  language  that  even  the  meanest  in- 
telligence could  not  misinterpret :  "  1  m 
t'inkin'   somedings'll  happen    mit   dot 
leedle  feller  yet ! " 

About  two  months  after  these  events, 
when  The  Big  Show  had  got  back  East 
and  was  snuggling  down  for  the  winter, 
the  G.  M.  received  a  letter.     It  was  a 

2(30 


FAREWELL 


letter  which  looked  very  much  like  that 
letter  that  Red  himself  had  had  occasion 
to  re-read  the  day  this  story  took  its 
beginning  in  Buffalo.  Only  now  it  was 
Red  himself  who  was  the  writer. 


"  Were  livin  right  next  door  to 
Spider  an  the  Sonnenshines,"  it  ran, 
"  an  we  been  fishin  about  twice  a  week. 
Mister  Sonnenshine  says  its  a  turible 
daingerous  thing  to  farm  too  hard  a^ 
first,  we  been  swimmin  a  heap  too. 
the  first  time,  I  got  my  back  sunburnt  so 
bad,  skids  I  thot  Ide  haf  to  keep  sleepin 
on  my  stummick  till  I  growed  up. 
Hans  he  goes  along  too.  him  and  his 
great-grandmother  takes  care  of  each 
other  fine  only  sometimes  shes  fierce 
an  hard  to  take  care  of  but  they  say 
great-grandmothers  are  generally  always 
like  that. 

'*  Missus  Mullers  began  tamin  things, 
the  chickens,  say  they  all  pike  after  her 

267 


I 


h 


i 


11 
I' 


REDNEY  McGAW 


the  jiffy  they  get  eyes  on  her.  She 
cant  hardly  ^et  to  church  for  them, 
and  she 's  tamin  the  chipmunks  an  red 
squirls  an  a  ground  hog  too.  If  there 
was  any  mountain  Uons  round  here,  say 
it  'd  be  only  a  day  or  two  till  they  was 
eatin  out  of  your  hand. 

"  Big  Heinie's  feeiin  fine  only  he  cant 
get  work  enough  to  do  on  a  hunderd 
and  sixty  akers.  we  was  at  a  bam- 
raism  last  week  an  they  had  to  make 
him  stop,  they  said  if  he  raised  Uke 
that  again  he'd  turn  the  everlastin 
blame  shebang  clean  over. 

"  Say,  I  had  a  letter  from  Elefants  an 
Cokeney  last  week.  Elefants  he  writ 
that  he  thinks  him  an  Cokeney  will 
have  to  -ome  out  here  for  a  holUday  an 
take  us  mto  the  bush  an  show  us  how 
to  do  things.     An  say,  if  they  ever  do! 

skids  — 

"An    Cokeney   he   writ    that   every 
time  deva  sees  jinjer  cakes  she 's  like 

268 


FAREWELL 


to  cry  her  jolly  head  off  an  keeps  a 
hollerin  in  elefant  talk,  say,  if  I  dont 
see  that  red  McGaw  an  his  grin  again 
pretty  soon  Ime  jist  guin  to  hawl  off  an 
lay  out  the  whole  menajcry.  but  skids 
I  guess  thats  ony  some  more  of  there 
joUyin." 


THE   END 


'wnsm^^rf'^f 


